


The Con

by Skater2



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-11 12:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 49
Words: 23,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2067396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skater2/pseuds/Skater2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team is enjoying a rare fall weekend off, and Emma has come to town to attend the yearly Sci-Fi Con with Reid, Garcia, and Sam.  However, when an explosion at the convention center derails everyone’s plans, the team quickly realizes that it may be the prelude to further destruction.  Meanwhile, Reid and Emma are struggling to define their relationship. </p><p>Sequel to "Sins of the Fathers" and "Do You See What I See?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please see note at end -

“Smoke and mirrors,” the unsub thought as he sat at his workbench putting the finishing touches on his latest device. “After I check the emergency team's response time to this diversion, I’ll be all set to finalize the plans for my statement to the world. And, when I am done, they won’t forget me – Ever!

His cell phone rang and he checked the screen before answering. “Jeremy, My Boy! Checking in?”

“What about the others, are they ready also?” he inquired solicitously.

“Oh Yes. This drill will provide an excellent opportunity for the emergency response teams to get some practice,” he assured his caller.

“Of course I have everything ready and in position for your team,” he was starting to sound testy. “All you boys have to do is arrive at the prearranged site and carry out our plan from there.”

“Okay, Great! I will be meeting all of you at our rendezvous point afterwards, My Boy. Best of luck!”

After closing up his disposable cell phone, the unsub carefully put it in his pocket. He might need to use it again before he gave it a final toss into the river. “Fools! Both them and their parents!” was his mantra as he carried the hardware out the door and carefully packed it into his van before setting out to the drop site.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the weekend of the yearly Sci-Fi Con and Garcia and Sam had arrived at Reid’s apartment early on Saturday morning, dressed and ready for the event. They had both chosen to dress as the Eleventh Doctor from the Dr. Who franchise, and were now standing in Reid’s living room helping each other adjust their bowties and fezs. Reid, who had chosen the Fourth Doctor as his model, was alternating between adjusting his wig and nervously winding and rewinding the long scarf around his neck.

“Relax Reid!” Garcia told him. “You look just fine! You did a magnificent job of knitting that scarf!”

Where’s Emma?” Sam worried. “We don’t want to be late. We’ll miss the opening panels!”

“Here I am,” Emma’s voice heralded her arrival into the room. “All dressed up and ready to go. Blame the delay on the wig. I should have forgone it and just dyed my hair red.”

Sam looked over as she came through the door, and his mouth involuntarily dropped open. “Um – m – m,” he stammered.

“Do I look okay?” Emma worried. “If you can’t guess, I am supposed to be Amy Pond.”

“Yeah – You look – Fine,” Garcia noticed the very short denim skirt Emma was wearing, along with the white open necked shirt, jean jacket, and ankle boots.

Reid just stared openmouthed at his maybe wife.

Emma was too busy fussing with her small shoulder bag to notice the effect she was having on both Sam and Reid.

“And, I will have you know I got a new camera,” she announced cheerfully looking up. “Sam, thank you so much for helping me! I took your advice and got the model you recommended. We’ll have to take lots of pictures. Once you help me figure out how it works, that is.”

She looked around at the others. “What?” she asked.

“You can’t go out dressed like that!” Reid blurted out. “Everyone will see you!”

“Spencer,” Emma smiled at him. “That’s the reason you dress up for a Con! However, I am sure there will be people there dressed much more exotically that this. No one will notice me.”

“You have legs – I mean - I know you have legs,” Reid was stuttering.

“He probably means that he is more used to seeing you in trousers or jeans,” Garcia interpreted Reid’s ramblings.

“That is too short!” Reid was emphatic. “That skirt - You can’t wear that!”

“This is the way Amy Pond dresses,” Emma told him defiantly. “I’ve watched all the episodes she was in and I never once saw her wearing a shroud. She did wear her wedding dress, but that is terribly impractical – You know I can’t wear white, I just get it dirty!”

“But – You’re – “Reid started again. “We’re – You can’t go like that!”

“I’m what and we’re what?” Emma demanded. “And what do you mean telling me whether I can or can not go? I am dressed and I am going and that is that!”

“Now,” she continued, ignoring him and speaking calmly to Garcia and Sam. “We had better get moving if we don’t want to be late. There are some early panels I would like to attend.”

Holding her head up, Emma walked out the front door followed by Garcia and Sam, while Reid trailed reluctantly behind.

Once they were out in the parking lot Emma turned to Garcia. “Penelope, I think you had better drive,” she told her friend. “Spencer can sit in front next to you and sulk. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Sam in the back seat with me so he can show me how this new camera works.”

Garcia already had her car keys out. “Works for me!” she declared as she headed towards her classic car.


	3. Chapter 3

The drive to the convention center was markedly quiet on Reid’s part. In the back seat, Sam busied himself showing Emma the various features on her new camera. By the time they arrived at the convention center, Emma was fairly certain she knew how her new toy worked.

“Thanks, Sam,” she told him as everyone got out of the car. “Penelope, why don’t you and Spencer go pick up our tickets at the ‘Will Call’ window, while I try some outdoor shots? If Sam will stay and help me, it will give me a chance to try out some of the long distance features.”

Sam looked uncertainly at Garcia. “Sounds good to me,” she said briskly. “We’ll probably have to stand in line at the ticket window anyway, so you two should have time to play with the camera.”

She held up her cell phone. “I’ll give you a call when we’re ready to go in.”

Garcia headed towards the building and, after a brief hesitation, Reid reluctantly followed her.

Emma smiled at Sam. “He’ll get over it,” she assured the man. “He just needs to think it through. Now, you said I use the viewfinder and just center the little box where I want the picture focused?”

“That’s right,” Sam told her. “Why don’t you try taking a picture down the side of the building here where you can check the perspective?”

Together, Emma and Sam took several pictures, focusing first on the building, then on the area just beyond the building, and finally on a small grove of trees in a park area down the street from the building.

They were looking at the camera’s screen, admiring Emma’s latest efforts, when Sam’s cell phone rang indicating a text message. “They have our tickets!” he announced happily after reading the screen. “Let’s go!”

As Sam and Emma began walking towards the convention center, a loud blast shook the building and people began erupting through the main doors. A second blast quickly followed, along with a cloud of black smoke belching out through the entrance doors.


	4. Chapter 4

Screams drown out any attempts at conversation as Sam began rushing towards the building’s main doors calling out, “Penelope! Penny! I’m coming Sweetheart!”

Without stopping to think about it, Emma held up her camera and began taking pictures, both of the people rushing by her and of the building itself. Buffeted by people rushing towards the parking lot, she slowly fought her way against the tide, getting closer and closer to the building.

Suddenly, three familiar figures appeared in her viewfinder. “Spencer!” she gasped as she rushed forward to grab him in a tight hug. “You’re okay!”

“And Penelope!” she turned to her friend who was holding onto Sam for dear life. “You’re okay, too!”

“I met them coming out,” Sam explained as he pulled Garcia over onto the lawn. Reid and Emma followed him over to the side as people continued to stampede past on their way out of and away from the building.

Penelope looked back at the building. “If we had arrived just a little sooner, we would have been inside, in the middle of all that!” she marveled.

“It’s a good thing you argued with me about my outfit,” Emma commented to Reid, as she continued clinging to him. “It delayed us just long enough.”

Reid just pulled his wife even closer.

“We need to get further away from the building,” Sam insisted, trying to pull Garcia towards the parking lot.

Emma sniffed the air. “Just a minute,” she said. “Do you smell anything burning?”

Garcia took an exploratory sniff. “Not really,” she commented. “That means - ?”

Reid sniffed the air. “I would assume that an explosion of that magnitude would start a fire or even several fires,” he commented. “And, you are right, I don’t smell anything burning.”

___________________

“Are you sure there was an actual explosion?” Emma questioned a she looked towards the building. “It looks to me like the roof is still intact.”

“And the windows are all still in one piece,” Garcia contributed. “Wouldn’t an explosion have blown them out?”

“Maybe the explosion wasn’t strong enough to do that kind of damage,” Sam suggested.

Reid pulled out his FBI credentials. “Let me check something.” He began heading towards the building.

Within a few steps, he encountered a building security guard, guiding people out of building and down the front walkway.

“Sir,” Reid held up his credentials. “Do you know if everyone is out of the building?”

“I don’t know for sure,” the guard replied. “But these are the last ones from my sector. FBI?? That was quick!”

“I need to check something,” Reid replied. He gestured towards the building. “May I go in?”

“Suit yourself,” the guard replied. “Just be prepared to deal with any other guards who may still be in there.”

“Stay here,” Reid told the others. “Sam, when the Metro police show up, flash your credentials and let them know I am in the building checking things out.”

“Spencer!” Emma exclaimed worriedly. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“If that wasn’t an explosion, someone needs to check out what is going on,” Reid replied. “And, the sooner that is done, the better the answers.”

“And, Garcia,” he added. “Maybe you had better notify Hotch. If this is a terror tactic, he will probably be getting a call. It’ll be better if he hears from us first.”

As his three companions watched, Reid began walking towards the main doors of the convention center.


	5. Chapter 5

Within minutes, the Metro Police Emergency Response Team had arrived and had begun cordoning off the building; moving people even further away. Sam showed his FBI credentials and was immediately taken to the team’s commander where he explained Reid’s reasoning.

Garcia, meanwhile, had gotten Hotch on the phone and was busy explaining the situation. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Sir, I really am,” she told him. “But, Reid thought I should call because, you see, we are all witnesses, and there was this explosion at the convention center that may not have been an explosion and – “

The police SWAT team, followed by the bomb squad, stealthily entered the building. Within half an hour, the SWAT team leader and Reid both emerged from the building, shaking their heads. The team leader, accompanied by Reid, immediately headed over to his commander. 

“Seems like the FBI was right,” he reported. “It appears that there was a lot of smoke and noise, but no actual explosion.”

“Although,” he continued. “The bomb squad is still in there checking, just to be on the safe side.” 

“Flashbang grenades and smoke bombs?” was the question. 

“Set off in the heating plant room,” Reid confirmed. “No real damage, just a lot of smoke and confusion throughout the building.”

“Well, we’ll need to get the building’s plant engineer over here to check everything out,” the commander decided. “We need to make sure there isn’t any hidden structural damage.”

“Why would anyone go to all this trouble and not cause any damage?” the SWAT team leader asked.

“Several reasons,” Reid told him. “The first that comes to mind is that this is a trial run for the real thing.”

“Great!” the man exclaimed. “What do we do now?” He looked over at his team’s commander.

“Let me call my Section Chief,” Reid pulled out his cell phone and began pushing Matt Cruz’s number.

It wasn’t long before the calls went out to Hotch’s team.


	6. Chapter 6

It was mid-morning and Hotch’s team, along with Emma and Sam, was gathered in their conference room where they were soon joined by Section Chief Cruz. 

“I’m really sorry to interfere with your weekend,” he began. “But if this is a case of a preliminary experiment leading to a major assault, we need to start profiling these people ASAP.”

“So,” Hotch began the discussion from where he was standing at the front of the room. “We may be looking at a terrorist group.”

“Has anyone claimed responsibility?” JJ asked.

“Not yet,” Cruz replied. “And the CIA as well as Homeland Security is monitoring all ‘chatter’ to see if there is anything out there.”

“If it is a terrorist group, they would most likely be quick to make themselves known,” Blake observed. “Those people love publicity.”

“And, they would want to spread fear as quickly and as far afield as possible,” Morgan contributed. 

“Nice outfits,” he added with a nod to Reid, Emma, Garcia, and Sam, who were still dressed in their costumes from the Con.

“What do we know about terrorist groups as a whole?” Hotch began. “That’s probably the best place to start.”

“The most common type is the political terrorist,” Rossi stated. “They are working to make a political statement, and are willing to commit suicide in support of their cause.”

“Love your bow tie, Kitten,” he added to Garcia, who treated him to a smirk.

“I think we can rule them out,” JJ spoke up. “As far as we can tell there was no chance of anyone being hurt let alone killed in that attack.”

“However, if this was a test run, they would be certain not to call attention to themselves or to get hurt,” Blake observed. “They would be sure to be safely away from the building before the smoke and the confusion started.”

“You are saying they would be some of the first people out of the building?” Emma questioned.

“Yes,” Morgan agreed. “They may even have left the building before the noise and smoke began.”

“Did you see something?” Rossi questioned Emma.

Emma held up her camera. “Sam and I were taking pictures outside the building before the explosion,” she explained. “And, I continued taking pictures for a short time afterwards. Maybe you should look at them.”

Garcia sprung to her feet. “Docking station,” she chanted. “I need to get a docking station.” She headed out the door.

“While she is getting that, let me get the computer set up,” Sam moved over to the in room computer and began powering it up.

“And, while we wait for them to get set up, why don’t you tell me about that outfit you have on?” Morgan smiled at Emma. “I am sure there is a very interesting story behind it.”

“Maybe I had better change my clothes,” Emma decided as she stood up. “I think Penelope keeps a spare pair of scrubs in her office.”

“That’s a good idea!” Reid told her as he glared at Morgan. “As I told you before, that skirt is far too revealing!”

“This skirt probably saved us from being caught up in the mayhem when the smoke bombs went off!” Emma reminded him before flouncing from the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Before long Garcia had Emma’s camera hooked up to the computer so her photographs could be put up on the flat screen at the front of the room. Emma had use the brief break to change into a pair of blue scrubs that Garcia kept stashed in her office for emergencies, and was now sitting several chairs over from Reid, pointedly ignoring him. Garcia had also changed her clothes, and was now sporting a bright blue sweatshirt featuring a picture of a bespectacled, intelligent-looking owl, along with a pair of black slacks. Both Sam and Reid had removed the costume parts of their Dr. Who outfits and looked more like their everyday selves.

“Let’s start with the first pictures you took and go from there,” Cruz suggested as Garcia began keyboarding.

“Okay - Here we go,” Garcia replied as she began bringing up the pictures.

The first few photos were ones Emma and Sam had taken inside the car and were quickly passed by. However, when the first picture of the outside of the convention center came on the screen everyone began carefully scrutinizing it.

“The time stamp says - ?” Cruz asked, squinting at the lower right-hand corner.

“Eight forty-five a.m.,” Sam was sitting closest to the flat screen. “And, that should be accurate. I checked the settings on the camera before we began taking pictures.”

“Okay, this shows the front of the building,” Blake observed. “All the people appear to be headed inside.”

“Next,” Rossi requested.

The next picture was a shot down the front of the building, towards the park at the far end. 

“I was trying for perspective here,” Emma explained. “Showing how the length of the building leads off into the distance.”

“What is that?” JJ stood up and walked towards the screen. “Right there at the end of the building.” She pointed at several spots of color close to the end of the convention center.

“Let me see what the next picture shows,” Garcia put up the following picture, which was focused on the end of the building.

“That appears to be a group of four – boys, maybe,” Morgan observed. 

“And they appear to be moving further from the building,” Rossi pointed out. “Can you zoom in on them?”

“What is the time frame between the two pictures?” Hotch asked as Garcia brought the four figures closer into view.

Sam squinted at the screen. “This one shows 8:51 and the previous one showed 8:50,” he read off the two pictures. 

“That means they moved that far in probably less than a minute,” Reid pointed out. “It’s hard to tell from these pictures but it looks like they must have been running.”

“Why would four boys be running from a Con?” Blake asked. “I would assume they would be headed in the other direction.”

“Could they be our unsubs?” JJ wondered.


	8. Chapter 8

The next three pictures definitely showed four young men rapidly moving further and further across the park and away from the building.

“I can’t definitively estimate how fast they are moving without actually being on the ground, but they are definitely running,” Reid declared.

“Like they are on a track team,” Morgan suggested. “Look at the position of their elbows and their knees.”

“Okay, we have four teenaged boys who appear to be on a track team,” Hotch agreed. “Garcia?”

“I will be pulling up yearbooks from local high schools and checking on the members of their track teams as soon as I return to my office,” the tech assured him. “Is there anything else?” She began sending copies of the pictures to her computer.

“Let me give you a hand with that,” Sam volunteered. “It will go much faster with two of us working on it.”

“In the meantime, we will continue checking the rest of the pictures and call you if we find anything else,” Hotch told the two techs.

“Have no fear – I will be in hot pursuit of the running quadruplets,” Garcia assured him as she and Sam left the conference room.

“Now, what do we know about these unsubs?” Hotch continued the analysis.

“They are organized. They had a definite plan,” Morgan observed.

“They obviously weren’t out to damage the center or to kill anyone,” Rossi contributed. “With the location of those fake bombs, if they were real they could have caused a lot of damage.”

“Why would they be interested in just causing panic and getting the building evacuated?” Reid wondered. “It really didn’t accomplish anything.”

“Maybe they were looking for bragging rights,” Blake suggested.

“Four high school students interrupting a major fan event? That would be a huge accomplishment,” JJ observed.

“But, this whole scenario doesn’t seem like something a group of high school students would have the patience to organize and pull off,” Hotch observed. “It seems like something an older person would orchestrate.”

“Plus, being arrested would not look good on their transcripts when they applied to college,” Rossi pointed out.

“Like you said before, what about if this is just a trial run?” Cruz asked. “What if someone else organized it and just used the students to test it out.”

“You mean there is something bigger being targeted in the near future?” Emma shuddered.

“That seems likely,” Hotch concluded. “And, we need to figure out who is behind this and what their next target is.”


	9. Chapter 9

“We need to start by checking events scheduled for this weekend,” Blake suggested. “Any place where a lot of people are gathered would be a target rich environment for this group.”

“Wouldn’t it have to be an indoor event?” Emma pointed out. “After all, if this is a trial run, it was focused inside the building.”

“Good Point,” Morgan agreed.

“Let me call Garcia and see what she can find that meets these parameters,” Hotch pushed a button on his cell phone.

“Greetings Oh Great Boss!” Garcia’s voice sang out over the speaker. “I have good news and bad news. Which would you prefer?”

“May as well start with the bad, Baby Girl,” Morgan matched her cheerful voice.

“Okay, just remember, you asked for it,” Garcia bantered back.

“It concerns the track team photos,” Sam interrupted. “We did find photos of the track teams from all the high schools in the area. However, we can’t match them to the individuals in Emma’s pictures because those four boys are too far away.”

“Now, the good news?” Blake sounded hopeful.

“I have been checking,” Garcia was back on the phone. “And, thus far, no group or groups have claimed responsibility for the ‘event’ at the convention center this morning. Both the press and the police appear to be downplaying the incident. So, our investigation shouldn’t attract any attention.”

“No publicity?” JJ asked. “That means that this isn’t any major terror group. Those people thrive on publicity.”

“An individual with a vendetta?” Rossi postulated. “That will make it harder for us to find him or to determine his next target.”

“Garcia,” Hotch spoke up. “We need you to do a search of all events in this area scheduled for not only this weekend but also during the next several weeks. They should be indoors and be the type of event that would attract a large group of people for a length of time.”

“Any particular demographic?” Garcia questioned.

“No,” Morgan told her. “Judging from the diverse group at the convention center today, the target wouldn’t be that specialized.”

“Penelope?” Emma spoke up hesitantly.

“Yes, Girlfriend,” was the quick response.

“On the yearbook thing,” Emma spoke slowly. “Maybe you could go through the yearbook pictures of other sports teams, clubs, and random groupings. If these four guys hang out together, perhaps they would be together in another picture.”

“Good idea!” Sam’s voice came through the speaker. “I'll check to see if there are any other pictures which contain four members of the track team while Penelope checks for events.”

“Good idea!” Rossi complemented Emma. “If these four do hang out together, we might be able to spot them in another picture.”

Reid beamed proudly at Emma, who continued studiously ignoring him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say "Thank You" to everyone who has been reading this story, and a special "Thank You" to those who have sent Kudos! If you will take a minute and let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it!

“Okay, back to indoor events scheduled for this weekend,” Hotch called them back to the subject. “Garcia?”

“Checking – checking – “ the tech replied. “Okay, there is a lecture on Medieval Stained Glass Windows and Their Symbolism at the university. That doesn’t seem like a likely target.”

“Not enough people,” Rossi agreed.

“And several experimental theater productions at the Smithsonian,” Garcia continued. 

“Again, that would be a small, very specialized crowd,” Blake observed. 

“And, believe it or not, that seems to be it for indoor events,” Garcia sounded frustrated. “Of course, this is football season and most of the high schools in the area play on outdoor fields.”

“Widen your search area,” Hotch instructed her. “Include the areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania that are easily reached from here.”

“And, what about checking for events during the coming week?” JJ suggested. “Are there any high-powered social gatherings scheduled?”

“Receptions, charity events, anything like that?” Rossi asked.

“Looking even as we speak. I will get back to you with what I find.” Garcia clicked off.


	11. Chapter 11

“We need to finish looking at Emma’s photos,” Cruz pointed out. “Maybe we can spot something or someone who stands out in one of them.”

Blake quickly move over a seat and assumed responsibility for putting the pictures up on the flat screen. The next few showed the beginnings of the exodus from the conference center with multiple people running past. 

Several pictures in, Morgan suddenly called out, “Stop! Now, back up one picture.” 

When Blake had the picture in question on the screen, Morgan stood up and walked up to take a closer look. 

“Right here,” he pointed at an individual in the picture wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans. “Now, the next picture.”

Blake quickly put the next picture up.

“Again, right here,” Morgan pointed to what appeared to be the same individual. “I don’t know about you, but that looks like the same person to me.”

“He or she appears to be just standing there, to Emma’s left, studying their watch and looking around,” JJ observed. 

“Let’s check the next picture,” Hotch suggested.

That picture showed yet another group of people rushing past the camera. However, the one after that was again focused on the building, off to Emma’s left.

“Whoever this is, they are still just standing there!” Morgan exclaimed. “And, they are still checking their watch, like they are timing something.”

“How long it takes to evacuate the building?” was Cruz’s guess.

“Or checking to see how long before the first emergency responders arrive?” Reid suggested.

“Do you remember seeing this person?” Rossi asked Emma.

“Not really,” Emma replied. “I was too busy watching for Spencer. And, then when I finally spotted him - ”

“Well, the way this person is dressed, we can’t tell if it is a man or a woman,” Blake pointed out. “And, with the angle the pictures are taken, we don’t get a clear view of the face.”

“The watch seems to be pretty unisex,” JJ observed. “And, the same can be said for their clothes.”

“That baseball cap is casting a shadow on their face,” Reid noted. “And from the way they are angled away from the sun, it looks like that was done on purpose.”

“No costume,” was what Hotch noticed. “Does that mean anything?” He looked questioningly at Reid.

“Not really,” Reid told him. “Some people dress up and others don’t. It’s just a matter of personal taste. Also, their exact costume is a matter of taste – “ He glared at Emma.

“Excuse me!” Emma snapped. “That isn’t pertinent to the issue under discussion!”

Cruz raised his eyebrows and looked over at Hotch, who shrugged and looked at Rossi.

“I think maybe it is time we took a break for lunch,” Rossi suggested. “I get the feeling that maybe some of us are getting a bit – peckish?”

“Good idea,” Cruz agreed. “What would everyone like to do – Send out for something?”

“Why don’t you decide? I think I’ll be joining Penelope in her lair,” Emma stood up and made her way out of the conference room while Reid sat staring forlornly after her.


	12. Chapter 12

After the team had decided on Chinese food and had placed their lunch order, Reid headed to the kitchen to get his noontime caffeine fix.

“So, what’s going on between Reid and Emma?” Rossi asked once he was sure the young agent was out of hearing range.

“Well, according to Garcia, they had quite an argument before they left the house this morning,” JJ reported. “Apparently, Reid was upset about her outfit. He didn’t like the short skirt – He was concerned that other people would be looking at her.”

“I assume he meant other men,” Blake observed.

“Well, I have news for him,” Morgan said. “Other men are going to be looking at Emma regardless of what she is wearing. Once she gets out of those baggy jeans and oversized hoodies that she seems to be addicted to, she is one good looking lady!”

“I can understand Reid’s objection,” Cruz told them. “I know with my ex, if she had just dressed a little more conservatively we could have avoided some of the drama.” He shook his head.

“However,” he continued. “She is a good person and has been an excellent mother to our children. If only I had realized sooner that I shouldn’t become fixated on some of the smaller issues, who knows? We might still be married.”

“Reid needs to talk to her and get things straightened out,” Hotch commented. “The longer it continues, the worse it is going to get.”

“Not to mention how his agonizing over it will probably interfere with his concentration on the case at hand,” Rossi added. “No matter how good he is at compartmentalization.”

Cruz’s cell phone buzzed announcing a text message. “It seems that our lunch has arrived,” he announced after reading it. “Why don’t I stop by the kitchen and get Reid to help me pick it up downstairs? Maybe I can have a talk with him.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Rossi told him. “And, I’ll call Garcia and ask her to bring Emma and Sam over here to join us for lunch.”


	13. Chapter 13

After watching down the hallway to make sure that both Reid and Cruz were out of hearing range, Rossi walked over to the flat screen and tapped on it. “Can you bring up a picture for me?” he asked Blake.

“What do you want?” Blake questioned as she put up the last picture they had looked at.

“Back up two, maybe three,” Rossi told her. “Okay, right there! Dressed like Wonder Woman.” He pointed.

“What?” Morgan squinted at the picture.

“Oh My Gosh!” Blake breathed. “That looks like – “

“Yeah!” Hotch told her. “That looks like Reid’s stalker.”

“She was there!” Rossi was outraged.

“Underneath that Wonder Woman outfit, that looks like Maeve - Who is she?” JJ questioned as she walked closer to the screen.

“Did someone mention food?” Garcia bustled into the conference room closely followed by Emma and Sam. When she saw the picture on the screen, she came to a sudden stop.

“I – I didn’t notice her before,” she stuttered.

“That’s because we were looking for someone else,” Blake explained. “Now, who or what have we found?”

As Emma stared at the screen, she turned deadly pale and began trembling. Sam quickly moved to her side and helped her to a chair so she could sit down.

“Oh No!” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Early this morning when I arrived at Spencer’s apartment and didn’t see her standing across the street from building, I had hoped that she was gone; that maybe she had given up and gone back to school for the fall term!”

“That is Maeve’s cousin, Moira,” Hotch told the room at large. “And, we think she has been stalking Reid and Emma.”

“You haven’t told Spence?” JJ was surprised.

“She hasn’t done anything overt,” Rossi explained. “And, with the problems Reid has had getting over Maeve, we decided to just wait and see what happens.”

“As far as we know, she hasn’t initiated contact with either him or Emma,” Hotch continued, looking over at Emma who shook her head ‘No’.

“Well, she’s here now!” Morgan declared. “What are we going to do?”

“How close to you was she?” Blake demanded.

“I didn’t even notice her,” Emma admitted. “I guess I was too busy looking for Spencer”.

“Nor did I,” Garcia added. “However, - “ She walked closer to the screen to examine the picture.

“She apparently was there when the three of you rejoined me,” Emma was trying to determine a time sequence.

“And, from the picture, it looks like she was just standing there, staring at you,” Rossi observed.

“Did she get any closer?” JJ asked.

Blake quickly began paging through the next few pictures.

“No,” Hotch observed. “It appears that after that picture was taken she just disappeared into the crowd.”

“Well, Spencer hasn’t mentioned Maeve recently,” Emma told the group. “So, I was hoping that meant that she hasn’t been around lately for him to subconsciously notice her.”

“So, we just continue waiting?” Blake questioned.

“She seems to be harmless, so that might be the best idea,” was Morgan’s opinion.

“I think we should tell Reid,” JJ declared.

“JJ’s right, we should tell Reid,” Hotch agreed. “However, I would suggest we wait until after this case is tied up. He doesn’t need that weighting on him, too. In the meantime, everyone needs to keep an eye out for her - Particularly when we are with Reid.”


	14. Chapter 14

When Cruz and Reid returned to the conference room with the food, Emma was standing on the far side of the room talking with JJ. After putting the take-out cartons on the table, Reid walked over to join them.

“I think I’ll check out the food,” JJ didn’t need to be told. “And, I’ll put some of the spring rolls to one side for you, Emma. They are always the first thing to disappear.” She walked away leaving them alone.

“Cruz says that I was out of line,” Reid began. “And that I shouldn’t have made those comments about your outfit.”

He hesitated before continuing. “I know that sometimes I say things that I shouldn’t,” he confessed. “It’s just what I do, and I am sorry I upset you.”

“I told you I was coming as Amy Pond,” Emma reminded him. She noticed that he had balled his hands up into fists as they hung by his sides. She reached over, picked up the right one, and gently opened it up.

“Relax,” she told him. “Take a deep breath and relax.”

“I know what you told me, I just never realized – “ Reid trailed off. “I probably should have asked more questions,” he added softly.

“Spencer, it is kind of hard to ask questions when we so rarely talk,” Emma pointed out. “And then, when we do, everything is so rushed! We never get a chance to really talk things through.”

“I could call you more often,” Reid offered hesitantly. “It’s just that in my – previous relationship – things like that were more structured. And between my job and your two jobs our schedules rarely coincide.”

“And, Spencer,” Emma smiled shyly. “You need to realize that this is all new to me. I have never been in a relationship before, and I’m not sure how to deal with situations like this. Heck, I have never even been on a date!”

“What?” Reid questioned, surprised. “You’re telling me you have never been on a date?”

“Never!” Emma declared. “We have been married for almost thirteen years, even if you didn’t know it for the first twelve, and married women don’t go on dates. This weekend would have been my - our - first date. And, you can see how that turned out!” She blinked back tears.

“I’m sorry,” Reid apologized. “Please don’t cry! I know that we are in an – unusual - situation where we are married and yet we don’t really know each other, and there are a lot of things we need to figure out. But, we never seem to have the opportunity to do that.”

He hesitated for a moment before adding. “I know I have told you this before, and please don’t get upset with me, but you really don’t need to work that second job. If you would let me help you – “

“And, as I have told you, I stand on my own two feet,” Emma reminded him. “I did let your father pay off what was left on that one small student loan because I know he feels guilty about getting us into this situation. However, I still feel really bad about that.”

“You and my father seem to be getting along,” Reid sounded slightly jealous. “Maybe, when this is all over with, I could come visit him and spend some time with you, too?”

“Maybe - ,” Emma told him tentatively. “Now that the tourist season is winding down, I can probably get some time off from my job at the ice cream stand. And that would give you a chance to visit your mother, too. I know how much she enjoys seeing you.”

“We could start – dating – “ Reid suggested, blushing.

Garcia bustled over. “As much as I hate to interrupt you two,” she said. “Everyone has picked up their lunch and we are getting ready to resume discussing the case. Maybe, when this is all over with and our team has again saved the world, you two can take some time and work on your relationship.”

Rossi and Cruz both took note when Emma willingly sat down in the chair Reid pulled out for her, next to the one he had been occupying.


	15. Chapter 15

“Okay, we have four unidentified young males who appear to be members of a high school track team, and one unidentified individual who may be of either sex,” Cruz began the discussion as the team sat around the table eating their lunches.

“We can assume that the unsub, who may or may not be the androgynous individual we noticed, isn’t associated with any political terrorist group,” Blake pointed out. “A group like that would have made some kind of noise by now.”

“That means he, she, or they most likely are a domestic terrorist(s) acting on their own for personal gain,” Rossi continued. “Someone like that generally is out to make a name for themselves and/or to get even for a perceived wrong.”

“And, we can also assume that this is a trial run for a major event sometime in the future,” JJ concluded.

“Now, how do we catch this guy or guys or whomever?” Morgan asked.

“If they are indeed acting on their own, the only way may be through identifying the teenagers they appear to have recruited,” Rossi pointed out.

“However, they probably consider these four boys to be expendable and they may not need them for their next attack,” Reid observed. “In which case – “

“What?” Emma exclaimed, shocked. “You mean he might - ?”

“He most likely will,” JJ told her sadly. “That’s why we need to move quickly while there is still a chance we can get to them first.”

Hotch’s cell phone rang and he glanced at the screen and frowned before answering. “Hotchner.”

“Yes, Chief Thompson,” the others heard his reply. “That certainly sounds like what we are looking for. Can you send over the names and home addresses? Thanks. And, do you think you can arrange for them to come in for questioning without arousing any suspicion. Great! We’re on our way.”

“What was that?” Rossi questioned.

“It appears our search for the four track team members is over,” Hotch told the team as he closed up his phone. “Their parents just reported them missing.”

“Missing?” Blake echoed.

“Yes,” Hotch told her as he stood up. “Apparently, within the past 15 minutes all four sets of parents have called the local precinct. Their names and home addresses are being sent to my phone so Garcia can check them out. And, the police have already made arrangements for them to come into the station."

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going!” Cruz stood up and led the way out the door.

"And I am on my way back to my lair to begin checking!" Garcia declared.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to thank everyone who has read my works and sent me either their comments or their Kudos. Your thoughtfulness is what makes this all worthwhile!

“So, Mr. and Mrs. Mason, your son Jeremy told you he was involved in an emergency disaster drill scheduled for this morning?” JJ asked. She and Hotch were interviewing the first set of parents to arrive at the station. 

“Yes,” Mr. Mason replied. “Otherwise, we would never have let him go out so early on a Saturday morning. We keep an eye on him and his activities and his friends.”

“He has been involved in this group ever since school started,” Mrs. Mason added. “It sounded like a good idea when he brought the paperwork home. That’s why we signed off on it.”

“You signed off on paperwork?” Hotch inquired. “What kind of paperwork?”

“You know, just the usual forms from the school,” Mr. Mason told him. “Releasing them from liability and so forth.”

“I don’t suppose you kept a copy?” JJ inquired. “I’m just curious who the faculty sponsor is,” she quickly added. “We will need to check with them, too.”

“Why are you asking us all these questions?” Mrs. Mason blurted out. “Can’t you just call the school and get this information? My son is missing! Something is wrong, isn’t it? 

“It is Saturday,” Hotch gently reminded her. “It is going to take time to track down the responsible persons from your son’s school. That’s why we thought it might be faster to ask you for the information.”

“We will be checking with the other parents, too,” JJ assured the increasingly upset couple. “And, I am sure we will have some answers for you shortly.”

It’s Queensbury,” Mrs. Mason blurted out. “His name is Queensbury. I remember because it is so unusual.”

“That’s right,” her husband agreed. “Apparently he is some sort of a counselor at Jeremy’s school who also runs this emergency response training group.”

“Did you ever meet this Mr. Queensbury?” JJ asked.

“No. But I spoke with him on the phone,” Mr. Mason explained. “I wasn’t going to let Jeremy go off half-cocked with a group of teenagers. For all I know this might be a group of some underground troublemakers. That’s how these terrorist groups recruit their members you know.”

“What has Jeremy told you about this group?” Hotch inquired. “What was its purpose?”

“According to Jeremy, they were training to assist the authorities in the event of an emergency. Sort of like a civil defense group for high school students,” his father replied. “It sounded to me like they were learning everything from first aid to how to rescue people from collapsed buildings.”

“And, you never had any indication that the organizer, this Mr. Queensbury, had anything else in mind?” JJ asked.

“Never!” both parents declared vehemently.

“Okay,” JJ exchanged looks with Hotch. “We are going to leave you alone here for a couple of minutes. An officer will be joining you shortly to get some further information for the missing person’s report that is going to be issued for your son and his friends.” 

As the two agents stood up to leave, Mrs. Mason asked. “Is Jeremey in some sort of trouble?”

“We’re not sure,” Hotch responded. “But, we will get to the bottom of this.”


	17. Chapter 17

“So, you did meet with this Mr. Queensbury?” Blake and Morgan were in another room interviewing Eric Larson’s parents. “When was that?”

“At the beginning of the school term, when Eric brought the paperwork home and asked if he could join this group,” Mr. Larson replied. “I thought it prudent to speak with whoever was in charge first.”

“You were right to do that,” Blake assured him. 

“Can you give us some idea of what he looked like?” Morgan asked. 

“Um – m – m -,” the two parents exchanged a look.

“We don’t need anything really specific,” Blake explained. “Just a general idea – For example, how tall was he?”

“A little shorter than me,” Mr. Larson replied. “And I am 5’ 7”.”

“Dark hair,” Mrs. Larson contributed. “He was wearing a loose navy blue pullover jacket so I couldn’t really tell his build, although he did appear to be rather stocky.”

“I got the impression that he was rather muscular,” her husband corrected her.

“Just a minute,” Morgan pulled a picture out of a folder on the table and pushed it over towards the parents. “Take a look at this and see if it looks like him.”

The two carefully examined a copy of one of the pictures from Emma’s camera. 

“It is kind of blurry,” was Mr. Larson’s observation. “And, you can’t see his face. But, I think it could be him.”

“I can’t see enough to tell,” Mrs. Larson said. “Although – “ she leaned in for a closer look.

“That might be the watch he was wearing,” she told the agents. “I remember thinking at the time that it seemed awfully fancy for everyday wear.”

“That’s right,” her husband agreed. “All those small dials seemed a little extreme.”

“That helps,” Blake told the couple. “Now, if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, we will send an officer in here to complete the missing persons report for Eric and his friends.”

“I don’t know what is going on here,” Mrs. Larson pleaded. “But, Eric is a good boy. You have to believe me!”

“We do believe you, Ma’am,” Morgan assured her as he and Blake stood up to leave. “And, believe me, we are working hard to get to the bottom of this.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Garcia,” Hotch and Reid were in the station’s conference room and Hotch had the tech on his cell phone. “What have you found out? And, you are on speaker.”

“Well, my overworked boss,” Garcia began. “Not as much as I would like. I have researched the four missing boys, Jeremy Mason, Eric Larson, Brandon Moore, and Ryan Caldwell, and have come up empty. They are all seniors at Dodson Academy with decent grades and only a few minor infractions on their school records. And, I can’t find where any of them have ever had any encounters with the police. I also checked through the various clubs and programs offered at their school, and none of them seem to be a civil defense training-type program like the parents have been describing.”

“In addition, at no extra charge, I also checked out the principal, Mr. Ron Stephenson, and again I have come up empty. Nothing nefarious in his background either.”

“What about this Queensbury?” Hotch questioned.

“Well, I ran a search on the last name and the only thing I came up with was information on John Douglas, 9th Marquees of Queensberry,” was the reply. 

“That’s understandable,” Reid chimed in authoritatively. “The Marquees of Queensberry Rules is a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. They were so named because John Douglas, 9th Marquees of Queensberry, publicly endorsed the code, although they were actually written by a sportsman named John Graham Chambers – “

“Thanks, Reid,” Hotch interrupted him.

“There is one additional item,” Reid told him. “The term is sometimes used to refer to a sense of sportsmanship and fair play.”

“Well, it’s questionable whether that is the case here,” Rossi commented dryly as he walked into the room and joined them.

“I have also tried running facial recognition software on the pictures Emma took of this guy and, again, I have come up empty,” Garcia reported. “His features were just too vague. Whoever he is, he definitely knows what he is doing!”

“Well, keep trying, Garcia,” Hotch said resignedly. “There has to be something out there somewhere.”

“No problem,” the tech assured him. “And, just so you know, I have both Sam and Emma in here helping me. Nothing – and I repeat – NOTHING - will get past the three of us!” She signed off.

“Agent Hotchner?” the detective assigned to assist the agents was standing in the conference room doorway. “I just want to let you know that we have contacted the school’s principal, Ron Stephenson, and he is on his way in. He should be here shortly.”

“Thanks, Detective,” Hotch told him. “I assume your men are busy gathering information from the parents?”

“Yes, Sir,” the man assured him. “Your Agent Jareau is helping us with the interviews, and we’ll have the reports ready for your team shortly.”


	19. Chapter 19

“Okay, how did it go with Brandon Moore’s parents?” Hotch turned to Rossi and Reid.

“Just as you would expect,” Rossi told him. 

“This guy, whoever he is, knows just the right buttons to push,” he continued angrily. “He made it sound like if the parents said ‘No’ it would mean they were unpatriotic. They more or less felt forced to agree to their son’s participation.”

“They didn’t bother to check this guy out?” Hotch asked.

“Actually, Mr. Moore met with him early one morning,” Rossi said. “That’s when the really hard sell occurred.”

“He made it sound as if they were preparing for another 9/11 attack,” Reid explained. “However, Mr. Moore did make one interesting observation. He thinks that this guy is ex-military.”

“Military?” Hotch questioned.

“Yes, he said that there was something about the way he moved and handled himself,” Reid told him. “Also, he thinks that his nose may have been broken sometime in the past. He said it looked pretty rough.”

“Ex-military?” Cruz questioned as he joined the group. “With a broken nose? Maybe that will give us something to go on.”

“Ryan Caldwell’s mother has just arrived,” he continued. “She is a single mother, and apparently was delayed by some issue involving one of her younger children. If it is okay with you, I would like to suggest that JJ and I interview her.”

“That will work out just fine,” Hotch assured him. “That way Morgan and I will be free to interview the principal, Mr. Stephenson, when he arrives.”

“And, while you are doing that, Blake, Reid, and I can begin reviewing and categorizing the information we already have,” Rossi concluded the assignments. “After we are all done, hopefully we’ll have a more complete profile of this guy.”


	20. Chapter 20

As Hotch, Morgan, and Cruz walked down the hallway towards the interview rooms, JJ abruptly appeared from an office they were passing and pulled Hotch back into it with her.

“Did you know that she has the annulment papers with her?” JJ demanded once they were alone. There was no need to identify ‘Her’. “She’s planning on asking Reid if he wants to sign them.”

“Does Reid know?” Hotch asked quietly.

“I don’t think so,” was the reply. “She told Garcia and Sam earlier while they were in Garcia’s office starting the computer searches and Garcia told me just now when I touched base with her.”

“Do you have any idea of how Reid feels about it?” was the next question.

“I have no idea. You know how he is about his private life,” JJ confessed. “And, after Maeve, who knows? However, I really think that Emma is ready to move on with her life. You know, up until now she has always been tied up with either school and/or work. And, having been married since she was 14, she has never had the opportunity to go out and experience life. Now, for the first time, she has the opportunity to be free of all that.”

“I can’t say that I blame her,” Hotch said thoughtfully. “Haley and I did date others for a while before we got married and I think it was a good thing. It gave us a chance to make certain that we were making the right decision.”

“And, I certainly dated,” JJ concluded ruefully. “But, Spence – “

“He’s never even dated his own wife,” Hotch concluded.


	21. Chapter 21

“Ms. Caldwell, thank you for coming in,” JJ began the interview with Ryan Caldwell’s mother. “I am Agent Jareau of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and this is Section Chief Cruz.”

“My son and his friends are all missing,” the woman got right to the point. “And I want to know what you are doing to find them!”

“We are doing everything we can,” JJ assured her. “But, we do need your help.”

“What can you tell us about the project Ryan and his friends were supposed to be working on this morning?” Cruz followed up.

“The emergency preparedness drill?” Ms. Caldwell asked, surprised. “It was through a group he participated in from the school.”

“What do you know about the group and its advisor, Mr. Queensbury?” JJ questioned.

“Well, it was through the school,” the woman repeated. “So I just assumed it was okay. I did double check the paperwork when Ryan brought it home. I even took pictures of it, just in case.”

“Just in case?” Cruz questioned.

“My ex-husband,” the woman explained. “He doesn’t come around for ages and then when he does all he can do is argue with me about my decisions concerning Ryan. I figured that if I could show him the details, it might curtail some of the arguments.”

“It didn’t though,” she added sadly.

  
“I also figured participating in something like this would give Ryan a male role model in his life. Heaven knows he doesn’t have that at home!” her voice reflected her pent-up frustration.

“Where are these pictures?” JJ asked.

“On my cell phone,” the woman began digging through her purse. “Would you like to see them?”

“Actually, I would appreciate it if you could send them though to a number I am going to give you,” Cruz told her.


	22. Chapter 22

“That paperwork never came through my office!” Principal Ron Stephenson was visibly upset as he handed the tablet back to Hotch. “I read everything before I sign it, and I never signed this! I also know all the active, approved student groups at Dodson Academy and that definitely is not one of them!”

“It certainly looks to me like that is the same format and letterhead used for all the other notices sent from your office,” Hotch observed as he again examined the screen of his tablet. “And, this does look like your signature.”

“You are right on both counts,” the principal agreed. “However, as easy as it is to scan formats and graphics into a computer program, it wouldn’t take much to duplicate any of that. I can give you the names of a couple of my students who could probably do it in their sleep.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Morgan spoke up. “But, can you think of anyone who would want to do something like this? Someone, most likely a middle-aged man, who would want to assemble a group of boys.”

“For what purpose?” the principal questioned. “From what I understand, the four missing boys are seniors - too old for kiddie porn. Besides, all incoming students are required to take a class in which, among other things, they are taught what to look out for in order to avoid sexual predators. I fought for that class to be part of our curriculum because I want us to do all we can to keep our students safe.”

“Now, I’m not saying our system is foolproof,” he continued. “But I would like to think that out of four boys at least one of them would have questioned this guy’s motives.”

“We don’t think this guy is a sexual predator,” Hotch explained. “We think he is trying to assemble a paramilitary group.”

“Paramilitary?” Mr. Stephenson was beyond outraged. “Let me assure you, there is **No** paramilitary training being done on my campus! We don’t even allow military recruiters on the grounds!”

“It wouldn’t be that type of paramilitary,” Morgan told him. “This guy has it well camouflaged as emergency preparedness training – A civil defense-type thing. He has convinced these boys, as well as their parents, that they are training to help the authorities save lives in the event of an emergency.”

“We think that, eventually, he will be using them to achieve a goal of his own,” Hotch continued. “We aren’t sure what that might be, but it could include a mock attack in preparation for the real thing.”

“And, after that, the boys would be superfluous,” Morgan concluded.

“Superfluous? You mean he would – “ the principal turned a deadly pale color and began hyperventilating.

“Yes,” Hotch nodded sadly.

“All four of them?” the man gasped, horrified.

“That is why we need your help,” Morgan emphasized. “We need to find these boys ASAP!”

“Put you head between your knees and take deep breaths,” he added helpfully.

“So, think again! “Hotch encouraged. “Who would have access to the students at your school? Who would have a motive to organize something like this?”

“Our staff works very hard to control who comes and goes on our campus,” Mr. Stephenson told the agents as he slowly raised his head. “Someone like you’re describing would definitely stand out.”

“What about your staff?” Morgan questioned. “Do any of them have military backgrounds?”

“Several of them have served,” the principle replied. “However, I think you can probably eliminate Mr. Welch in our English Department - He is in a wheelchair!”

Hotch fixed Mr. Stephenson with his patented glare. “What about your track team coach?” he questioned.

“Again, not possible,” was the quick response. “He has been out of town for the past two weeks with a family emergency!”

Hotch handed the principal a tablet of paper and a pen. “Well, start writing! We need a list – And it should include everyone who has access to your campus, up to and including the mailman!”

“I don’t think you’ll need to worry about Angie,” the principal replied, as he accepted the paper and pen.

“Angie?” Morgan inquired.

“Our mail person,” the principle replied as he leaned back, folded his arms across his chest, and glared back at Hotch. “As I told you, my staff and I keep a very close eye on everyone who comes and goes on our campus!”

The principal’s well-practiced glare almost made Hotch cringe!


	23. Chapter 23

“Baby Girl?” Morgan was on his cell phone to the tech. “I have an assignment for you.”

“Bring it on!” Garcia challenged him. “I want to get this guy caught and drawn and quartered and hung out to dry and everything else as soon as possible. That way my BFF and her husband can, hopefully, get everything straightened out between the two of them.”

“Well, I don’t know about helping Reid and Emma,” Morgan told her. “But, I am sending you a list of people who regularly have access to the school’s campus, as well as a list of staff members who have served in the military. If you can start checking?”

“I already have checked out most of the staff,” Garcia told him. “I’ll get working on everyone else.”

“I assume you are already at work checking the boys’ cell phone records?” Morgan inquired.

“SOP – Stand Operating Procedure,” Garcia assured him. “And, I am also running checks on the computers at the school; but please don’t tell the principal that. Even after all these years I still have problems dealing with principals.”

“Not A Problem!” Morgan assured her. “Did you find anything?”

“Well, all four of their cell phones were switched off at about 10:30 last night,” Garcia reported. “Then, early this morning, Jeremy Mason made one call. It went to a disposable cell phone, which has since gone dead. When I checked the phone records for the other three boys, they have also made calls to that particular number. I am still trying to locate that phone.”

“Okay. That sounds like a possibility,” Hotch spoke up. “If you find anything – “

“You will be the first person I tell,” Garcia assured him.

“Now, I also need you to check for any place where these boys could have hung out either before or after school,” Morgan continued. “If this guy didn’t target them at the school, he had to have known where they spend their spare time.”

“I’ll have Sam get started on that,” Garcia told him. “You’ll be hearing from one or both of us shortly!”


	24. Chapter 24

“Okay,” Rossi was sitting at the conference room table with Blake while Reid wrote on the evidence boards. “What can we add to our profile?”

“This guy is definitely a con artist,” Blake began. “He managed to convince not only these four boys but also their parents that this was a legitimate group.”

“He had to be familiar with the school,” Reid added as he wrote. “He was able to duplicate the forms and the signatures that the school uses. He also apparently targeted these students when they were off campus, so he obviously knows the local student hang-outs.”

“That begs another question,” Rossi observed. “How did this guy target these particular students? What made them different?”

“Did he start out with just them, or did he have a larger group and then winnow it down to these four?” Reid questioned. 

“Maybe the parents could tell us,” Blake suggested. “I am sure they know more than what we have found out so far.”

“JJ and Cruz are with them now,” Reid pointed out. “Hopefully, they will be able to get some additional information.”

“What did you find out?” Rossi asked Hotch and Morgan as they walked into the room.

“Principal Stephenson definitely keeps an eye on his people, his students, and his campus,” Hotch reported. “He even knows who delivers the mail.”

“Dodson Academy may not be a military school, but he certainly keeps it under control,” Morgan contributed. “He gave us a list of names, employees as well as outsiders, who have access to the campus. Garcia is running it now.”

“One thing he said,” Hotch hesitated. “Something about not allowing military recruiters on campus?”

“Maybe someone got turned away and didn’t like it?” Rossi guessed as he stood up. “Where is he now?”

“We put him in with the parents,” Morgan told him. “As concerned as he is with his students and their safety that seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, JJ and Cruz are in there to monitor whatever is being said.”

“Let me talk to him,” Rossi suggested. “Maybe I can get a sense of this. And, Blake, why don’t you come with me? There are some more questions we need to ask the parents.”


	25. Chapter 25

“Mr. Stephenson?” Rossi and Blake walked into the small meeting room that had been set aside for the waiting parents.

“Yes?” the principal stood up. “You have news?”

“Agent David Rossi,” Rossi introduced himself and held out his hand to shake. “And this is Dr. Alex Blake.” He gestured towards the other agent.

“Has something happened?” Ms. Caldwell blurted out. “Have you found out something about our boys?”

“Not yet,” Blake replied. “However, there are a few more questions we would like to ask you.”

“What are you doing to find them?” Mr. Mason demanded. “They have been gone for over seven hours now!”

“We have put out a BOLO,” Rossi assured the parents. “Every police officer in the area is actively looking for them.”

“And, we are also monitoring their cell phones and on-line accounts looking for activity,” Blake added. “But, as I said, there is some more information we need from you. If everyone will please sit down so we can talk?”

“And, if you will come with me,” Rossi addressed the principal. “We need to speak separately while Dr. Blake speaks with the parents.”

“What is this about?” the principal questioned once they were sitting at the table in an interview room. “I already gave your Agent Hotchner a list of people; even though I don’t think any of them have anything to do with this.”

“I have another question for you,” Rossi explained. “It concerns your remark about not letting military recruiters have access to your campus. What is that all about?”

The principal took a deep breath. “That dates back to my predecessor,” he told the agent. “Apparently there was an – unfortunate incident – involving an overly ambitious recruiter and a young lady who was unhappy with her home situation. I don’t know all the details, as I said it was before my time but, as I understand it, there was a settlement reached by all parties involved. And, as part of that deal, the records are all sealed; I would suspect that was to protect the young lady in question.”

“However, let me assure you that military recruiters are more than welcome at our career fairs and if any student indicates an interest in a career in the military we do have information available and will gladly direct them to the nearest recruiting center.”

“Do you think this recruiter is back after all this time and is somehow involved with this? A vendetta of some sort?”

“That is one possibility,” Rossi pulled out his cell phone. “How long ago did you say this occurred?”

“I have been at the school for a little over seven years,” Mr. Stephenson replied slowly. “And, I believe the incident took place approximately 18 months before then. So, about nine years ago?”

“Garcia,” Rossi spoke into his phone. “I have something else for you to check out.”


	26. Chapter 26

“Military?” the principal repeated thoughtfully. “You people seem to be coming back to this military theme.”

“What?” Rossi questioned. “Do you remember something?”

“I’ll call you back in a minute, Garcia,” he spoke into his phone before closing it.

“It couldn’t be!” was the responding exclamation. “That had to have been over two years ago – however - ” He sounded thoughtful. 

“Why don’t you tell me?” Rossi suggested. “And I’ll decide.”

The principal took a deep breath. “It was about two years ago that the school received an inquiry from a mother concerning the possibility of enrolling her son and daughter in our program,” he remembered. “After the initial paperwork had been completed and the children had been interviewed and tested by our staff, the final paperwork arrived on my desk. It appeared that the girl was a very good fit for our school, both academically and socially. The boy was not as impressive. However, I suspected that with a bit of coaching we would be able to bring him up to speed academically. So, I approved the acceptance for both of them.”

“Our councilors had already spoken with the mother, but the formal acceptance letter had not yet been sent out when I got a visit from the children’s father.” The principal stopped and shook his head at the memory.

“A memorable individual?” Rossi was trying to be diplomatic.

“Definitely!” was the response. “He marched, and I do mean marched, into my office, and began his critique of our school. According to him, our school uniforms were not up to standard – ‘Slovenly’ was the term he used - and discipline was severely lacking. He seemed to think that our students should march in formation from class to class.”

“I tried to diplomatically explain to him that we are not a military academy and that our core beliefs include respect for each student’s individuality. He completely ignored me and began telling me that we needed to institute a boxing program as part of our PE and team sports offerings. He was quite persistent and I was seriously considering calling another member of our staff to help me remove him from my office when he finally took the hint and left under his own power. I could tell he was unhappy with me and with my responses.”

“What happened after that?” Rossi questioned curiously.

“Well, obviously, I had second thoughts about accepting the children into our program,” the principal replied. “Dealing with an individual like that on a regular basis would be trying, to say the least. Upon consideration, however, I decided to do what was best for the children and approved their acceptance. Then, the letter informing their mother that they had been accepted came back marked ‘No Longer At This Address’, and when we tried to contact the her by phone, the phone had been disconnected.”

“Can you give me a description of this guy?” Rossi was pulling out his cell phone. 

“Short,” was the initial response. “Dark hair and eyes, heavily muscled and, this is going to sound strange I know, but it looked as though his nose had been broken and not properly set.”

“Name?” Rossi requested. “This definitely sounds like the guy we are looking for!”

“I’m sorry,” the principle shrugged. “But, unfortunately, I can’t remember the last name. You have to understand, we get numerous applications for admission every year.”

“That’s okay,” Rossi assured him. “If you can give me a time frame, I may know someone who can help.”

He pushed a well-used button on his phone. “Garcia?” he said. “It’s me again!”


	27. Chapter 27

“I have a question for you,” Blake began once she had the parents’ attention. “It concerns how many boys were originally involved in this group. And, was it just boys or were there girls also?”

The parents looked at each other.

“I think there was a larger group to begin with,” Mrs. Larson began. “However, I’m not sure about girls.”

“There were more kids involved initially,” Mr. Moore confirmed. “When I met with Mr. Queensbury, he said he had already signed up ten students. He didn’t say whether they were boys or girls. Later, when I asked Brandon, he told me there were fifteen or sixteen participants. Again, I don’t know if there were any girls involved.”

“I remember Ryan telling me about some kids dropping out,” Ms. Caldwell contributed. “He said that they got discouraged and just stopped showing up.”

“Eric did mention something about some kids who couldn’t keep up,” Mrs. Mason added. “I assume he meant that they weren’t in shape physically. After all, our sons are all on the track team.” She looked around at the other parents who nodded their agreement.

“Do you have any names of these drop-outs?” Blake asked. 

Ms. Caldwell just shook her head. “He never told me and I never asked,” she confessed.

“What about Ryan?” Blake asked, picking a child at random. “Did he ever indicate any desire to drop out?”

“Just once, after the second or third week,” Ms. Caldwell recalled. “I suggested that he wait another week or two and see if he still felt the same. He never brought it up again.”

“Jeremy also mentioned dropping out,” Mr. Mason reported. “However, like you, I encouraged him to wait and think things through before making his decision.”

He shook his head sadly. “If only – “

“You can’t blame yourselves,” JJ told them. “You did the best you could to check this guy out. And, whoever he is, he was determined to outwit the world.”

“He would have fooled a lot of people,” Blake added. “Including me. He is a true con man.”

“Now,” Cruz spoke up. “Can you tell us where these training sessions were being held?”

“I always thought they were at the school,” was the response from Mr. Moore. 

“Eric always came home on the city bus, the same as if he was coming from classes,” Mrs. Larson observed. 

“If this wasn’t being sponsored by the school and it wasn’t being held at the school, where have they been?” Mrs. Mason demanded.


	28. Chapter 28

Hotch, Reid, and Morgan were in the conference room busily reviewing the information assembled on the evidence boards when Hotch’s cell phone rang.

“Yes, Garcia,” he answered after checking the screen. “You have something for us?”

“Of course!” the tech assured him. “However, before I begin, perhaps you had better get everyone together and put me on speaker. I have quite a lot of information and it’s probably better if I tell everyone at the same time.”

“Maybe we should set up a conference call via the computer,” Morgan suggested. “I think Cruz has his laptop with him.”

It wasn’t long before Garcia, with Sam partially hidden behind her, was glaring out at the team from the computer screen. “Okay, let’s get started so you can get this SOB!” she declared. “There are four boys missing and you need to find them!”

“First off, this miscreant‘s name is Lester Gold. I got that off the Dodson Academy’s database of applicants, but don’t tell the school that.”

“What can you tell us about him?” Blake asked.

“Quite a lot,” Garcia replied. “And, let me start by saying I have located some losers for you in the past, but this one really grinds my **#$@#^%$** \- Mainly because he truly has no excuse for his behavior!”

“The facts, Garcia, just the facts,” Hotch interrupted her tirade.

“O-k-a-y –, “ Garcia relented. “Lester Gold was born and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. As far as I can tell, he had a perfectly normal childhood with no problems with his family, his school or the authorities. He went to public school and, in due time, graduated with fairly decent grades. However, as he was on the high school boxing team, the question can be raised as to whether he actually earned the last few semesters of those. After his exit from that institute of learning, he was accepted at a medium-sized college in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on a – You guessed it – A boxing scholarship. However, that lasted only two years before the school began cutting back on its athletic programs in order to focus on – Surprise! - Academics. When Mr. Gold was cut loose from that program, he attempted to join the Marines. Apparently, he was under the impression that his boxing skills would give him an automatic acceptance. As you can guess, he was wrong.”

“Well, now we have the Queensbury connection,” Morgan observed. “He most likely sees himself as carrying on that tradition.”

“I would suspect that he didn’t give up at that point?” Blake inquired.

“You would be right,” Garcia confirmed. “After being rejected by the Marines, he then applied for and was rejected by the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. I can’t find anything on the Coast Guard, but I wouldn’t rule that out.”

“That’s a lot of rejection,” JJ observed. “How did he deal with it?”

“Yeah, that is a lot!” Garcia snapped. “But that didn’t give him the right to – “

“Calm down, Sugar Plum,” the team heard Sam’s voice. “Calm down! Why don’t you finish telling the team what you have found out and then you can tell me all about it.”

“Well, at that point Mr. Lester Gold moved to the D.C. area,” Garcia was fighting to stay calm. “I suppose he thought that if he was close to the people responsible for making the final decision he would stand a better chance of pleading his case in person. He also began boxing in the local amateur league.”

“Was he ever arrested?” Rossi asked curiously. “A personality like that would be prone to violence simply for the sake of violence.

“Not that I can find,” Garcia told him. “But, that’s not to say he didn’t get into any altercations. He probably was careful to avoid getting a record because he knew that that would prevent his advancement in what he viewed as his chosen career. His next step, after that initial assortment of rejections, was applying to the various police departments in this area. Again, his applications featured his boxing ‘career’ as a hiring point. Also, at this time, he was regularly competing in amateur boxing competitions throughout this area with fairly good success.”

“I would assume he wasn’t hired?” Cruz guessed.

“Actually, he was hired by a small municipality just north of Quantico,” Garcia reported. “However, that didn’t last long. Within nine months of completing his training period he was let go and that record is sealed. I could probably get into it if you are interested.” She sounded hopeful.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Baby Girl,” Morgan told her. “We can probably guess what it says.”

“What then?” Hotch was anxious to get the preliminaries out of the way.

“Well, by now he had a family which he had acquired by marrying a woman who had two children from a previous marriage,” Garcia continued. “And, although there aren’t any police records of domestic disputes, shortly after the wedding both the children’s grades began to slip and they were sent to speak with school councilors. Also, his wife made several trips to the emergency room with bruised and/or broken ribs.”

“Was he working at this time?” Blake asked.

“Yes, of course, he had a family to support,” Garcia sounded decidedly snarky.

“He had taken a job with a company that trains and supplies security guards to various malls and businesses,” Sam interrupted her. “And, he was assigned to an arcade which is located about three blocks from Dodson Academy.”

“Well, now we know how he got his information on the school and its protocols,” Reid guessed. “He probably just appropriated copies of paperwork from the students who came in.”

“And, that also is probably where he targeted these boys,” Rossi observed. “He could speak with them as well as watch them as they played the video games and judge their reactions.”

“And a security guard definitely would not set off alarms,” Hotch added.

“We still don’t have a stressor,” JJ pointed out.

“Well, that is easy!” Garcia was back on track. “A little more than two years ago, his wife left him, taking her two kids with her.”

“That’s right before his appearance in Mr. Stephenson’s office,” Cruz said. “He must have heard that she had applied for admission there for the children.”

“And decided to contribute his two cents worth!” Blake added.

“It is shortly afterwards that she appears to have gone missing,” Sam confirmed. “She and the two children just disappeared. My guess would be that she had enough of his abuse and interference and went off the grid.”

“No signs of foul play?” Morgan asked.

“It doesn’t appear that anyone ever looked,” Sam reported. “As far as I can determine, there was never a missing persons report filed for either her or the children.”

“Do we know where he is now?” Hotch came right to the point.

“His most recent home address and other contact information has been sent to your phones,” Garcia reported. “But I don’t think you will find him there. He has been living in one unit of a duplex, and utility usage for that unit has dropped to almost nothing over the past three months.”

“Do you know where Lester Gold is now?” Morgan demanded. “We need to find him pronto!”

“Stand down, Big Guy!” Garcia told him. “When did you ever know me to send partial information?“

“Now, you need to thank Emma for this next bit of information,” Garcia continued. “She realized that if this guy was at the Convention Center timing the emergency team’s response time, he most likely was planning an attack which would be responded to by that same emergency response team. So, I began looking around the area serviced by that particular team.”

“You found?” JJ questioned.

“The Village Trading Center,” Garcia enunciated. “It’s in an older building that used to be – “

“An old one story enclosed shopping mall,” Rossi interrupted. “It has been subdivided into smaller spaces which are rented out as offices, work spaces, and shops. One weekend a month, they host a swap meet for car parts in several of their meeting rooms as well as their auditorium. It attracts so many vendors that it frequently overflows into the parking lot. I went there looking for parts several times when I was restoring my Buick.”

“And, it’s on the bus line that serves Dodson Academy,” he concluded.

“Well, your man, Lester Gold, has been renting a space there for the past eighteen months,” Garcia announced. “Address and directions have been sent to your cell phones. Now Go Get Him!”


	29. Chapter 29

As the other team members filed out of the conference room, Reid remained seated at the table, staring at the computer screen.

“Garcia, are you still there?” he called out hopefully.

“Yes, husband of my BFF?” Garcia replied cheerfully.

“Do you know where Emma is?” he asked, blushing as he noticed the others had stopped and were standing in the hallway listening.

“Of course!” Garcia assured him. “She is in Rossi’s office, sleeping. Why don’t you call her on her cell?”

“I don’t know – “Reid sounded uncertain. “Sleeping?”

“Yes, my most favorite but not too bright genius - Sleeping,” Garcia told him firmly. “Your wife was totally worn out. You do remember that after working shifts at both of her jobs yesterday she flew in this morning on the red eye, don’t you? And, she didn’t get any sleep on the flight because she spent the time writing up the research she is doing with the Mid-Town University group and editing an article that she is readying for publication. Then, when she finally got to your apartment, she only had a couple of hours of sleep before she got up to fix your breakfast. Following that, she had to get ready for The Con and, well, you know what happened there. At any rate, she was literally falling asleep standing up so I set her up on Rossi’s couch.”

“Oh - Yes. I kind of forgot all that,” Reid sounded regretful. “I just wanted to check up on her and see how she is doing.”

“Well, you do know that you can call her on her cell phone at any time – It’s not like – you know - before - “ Garcia left the details unsaid. “Although, right now I would suggest that you wait a while before calling. You might text her, though. She’d probably enjoy reading that when she wakes up.”

“Thanks, Garcia,” Reid took out his cell phone as their conversation ended.


	30. Chapter 30

“Okay, how are we going to handle this?” Hotch asked. The BAU agents were in the police station’s parking lot busily pulling their Kevlar vests out of The Bureau’s SUVs.

“I’ve already spoken with Chief Thompson,” Cruz reported. “He is summoning the SWAT team and they will be here momentarily.”

“How many people can we expect to find at The Village Trading Center this time of the day on a Saturday?” Morgan asked.

Rossi looked up from his cell phone. “A lot,” he reported regretfully. “I checked and this is the Automotive Swap Meet weekend.”

“Garcia!” Hotch was on his cell phone. “Do you have – “

“A floor plan for The Village Trading Center?” Garcia finished his question for him. “Check your phones - I just sent it. I also sent the number of the unit you are interested in as well as a current picture of the scumbag in question. Plus, I checked and the HVAC system in that building was recently reworked, with the work being done by the same company that was responsible for last year’s update/upgrade of the convention center’s system.”

“So, that is how he was familiar with the convention center’s ventilation system,” JJ observed. “The company probably used the same components in both projects.”

“You would be right about that,” Garcia told her. “Now, if you need anything else, feel free to let me know.” She signed off.

“How much are we paying her?” Cruz asked.

“NOT ENOUGH!” was the chorus of replies.

“Agents,” the leader of the SWAT team walked over. “I understand we are about to undertake a joint effort.”

“That’s the plan,” Cruz told him.

“Section Chief Matt Cruz,” he introduced himself and held out his hand to shake. 

“And this is my Unit Chief, SSA Aaron Hotchner,” he continued, gesturing towards Hotch.

“Captain John Hastings, SWAT Team Leader,” was the reply as the men shook hands all around. “You want to tell me what this is all about?”

“No problem,” Cruz replied. “Let me fill you in on the circumstances and then we can start planning – “


	31. Chapter 31

“Okay,” Morgan looked around as he climbed out of the driver’s seat of the SUV. “The city buses have all been instructed to bypass this stop.”

“That’s right,” Blake assured him as she climbed out of the passenger seat. “And several empty buses have been dispatched to pick up any passengers who are waiting here and move them out of the area as quickly as possible. The Transit Authority has also sent over several of their officers to help direct everyone to the pick-up point.”

“Mall Security has been instructed to close all parking lots to further traffic,” Reid added as he climbed out of the second row of seats. “And, they are checking the license plates on all vehicles in the parking lot to determine whether Lester Gold’s van is parked there.”

The three agents walked over to where Hotch had parked the second SUV, and then watched as the SWAT team began pulling their vehicles onto the patch of dirt adjacent to the center’s rear parking lot.

“Alright,” Hotch began once Captain Hughes had his people assembled and everybody had their Kevlar vests fastened. “JJ and Rossi, you will walk over first and meet with the Head of Mall Security. He is expecting you. Make sure that he knows we are here and verify that he already has his staff discretely funneling people out of the building and out of the parking lot. Call me when you have confirmed that and we will send in the second group.”

“We’re on our way,” Rossi assured him as he led the way across the parking lot towards the building.

As Hotch watched his two agents go, his cell phone rang. “Hotchner,” he answered. “Good – Where?” was his next comment. “Okay, don’t touch anything, just observe from a distance,” he replied. “And let me know if anyone shows up to move it.”

As he closed up his phone, he looked over the group. “Mall Security has located Lester Gold’s van,” he reported. “It is parked close to the building on the south side.”

“So, we can assume he is definitely here,” Cruz stated.

“We’ll need to keep an eye on the vehicle,” the SWAT team leader declared. “Just in case he tries to leave. I’ll send a couple of uniforms over to relieve the mall security guys.”

“Great!” Cruz responded. “Now, once we hear from Rossi and JJ we can – “ He was interrupted by Hotch’s phone buzzing.

“Garcia?” Hotch answered the call. “You have something new?”

“It is I,” Garcia responded. “And, yes, I do have some additional information. However, you had better put this on speaker because I think Morgan is going to be the one who needs to review the information I have found.”

“Okay,” Hotch pushed a button. “Morgan is listening – Go ahead.”

“Well, I was thinking,” Garcia began. “And I realized that whatever kind of attack this guy was planning he would need to purchase supplies. So I went looking – “

“What did you find?” Morgan spoke up.

“I’m not really sure, because I don’t build bombs as a hobby,” Garcia replied. “But it appears that over the past nine months or so Lester Gold has been buying a bunch of wiring and electronic components and other thingies on line. It is really weird because he had them delivered to the main office of the mall rather than to his unit.”

“Probably to divert attention,” Reid guessed.

“Morgan, I am sending the list of parts I have assembled to your phone,” Sam’s voice broke in. “Maybe you can tell us what can be done with this stuff.”

“Thanks,” Morgan glanced at his phone’s screen. “Yep – I have it. And, yes, these parts can definitely be used to build several small bombs. Thanks - This will help us to know what we are dealing with.”


	32. Chapter 32

“Okay, Morgan, how bad is it?” Hotch asked concerned.

“It could be worse,” Morgan replied as he studied the list on his cell phone screen. “These electronic timers are the type that is also used in traffic lights - Dependable and hard-working, but not designed to carry large loads. And the wiring harnesses are also designed to carry a low load.”

“So, this isn’t a big deal?” Captain Hughes questioned hopefully.

“No – It is a big deal,” Morgan replied. “These devices may not be designed to spread destruction over a large area but, if they are properly placed, they can cause extensive damage with a lot of people getting hurt.”

“Properly placed?” was Blake’s question.

“Like in a heating duct that is adjacent to electrical wiring,” Morgan replied. “The smoke would spread quickly throughout the building, causing panic, and the resulting fire would quickly spread through the ceiling and engulf quite a large area, particularly in an older building like the one we are looking at.”

“And, judging from the way the smoke spread through the convention center, he is definitely familiar with the ventilation and air flow system,” Reid commented. 

“How many bombs could he build with these supplies?” Cruz asked.

“There are three timers,” Morgan again examined the list. “So that would be my guess.”

As everyone pondered Morgan’s replies, Hotch’s cell phone rang.

“Yes, JJ,” he answered. “Okay, that’s good. Why don’t you find a secure place where you can keep an eye on the space he has rented? If you see our target come out, let me know. In the meantime, I will notify mall security that our second group is coming in through the back of the building and will be focused on locating and arresting our man.”

Hotch turned to Cruz who, in turn, nodded to Hughes. 

“Time for our second group to move in,” Cruz told the SWAT leader. “As we discussed, Agents Morgan and Blake will be going in with four members of your team and will begin the search for our target.”

“We will start with the space he has rented and, if he isn’t there, we will proceed to check out the rest of the building,” Morgan confirmed.

“While being as discrete as possible,” Blake added. “If there are still people in there, we don’t need to start a panic.”

“Your people all have a picture of Lester Gold?” Cruz verified with Hughes.

“They have all been given one,” Hughes confirmed. He looked over at a group of four members of his team and nodded to them. “Show time!”

“One last thing,” Cruz stopped everyone. “Cell phones turned to ‘Vibrate’. We don’t want to risk alerting this guy that we are here.”

Self-consciously, the BAU agents as well as the members of the SWAT team all pulled out their phones and verified the settings.


	33. Chapter 33

Moving quickly, Morgan and Blake, along with the four SWAT team members, entered the mall through the back delivery door. As they walked through the storage area and into the mall itself, they noted that Mall Security had already begun clearing that part of the building and that there were very few people left in the vicinity.

“Let Blake and me go first,” Morgan told the SWAT team. “We look less threatening and won’t attract as much attention.”

As the four SWAT team members held back, Morgan and Blake proceeded down the mall towards the space rented by Lester Gold. As they stealthily moved down the corridor, they saw JJ and Rossi waiting in the shadows of a doorway off to their right.

“Anything?” Blake asked as they slid into the doorway next to them.

“Nothing,” Rossi confirmed.

“He, or someone, is definitely in there,” JJ reported. “We have seen shadows moving around inside.”

“And, from the way the shadows have been moving, I strongly suspect that there is more than one person in there,” Rossi added.

“We haven’t uncovered any indications that this guy has any associates,” Morgan observed. “Could he have taken someone from the mall?”

“If he did, they were here by themselves,” JJ said. “We haven’t heard anyone going around looking for a missing person and, as far as we know, Mall Security hasn’t been notified about anyone who has gone missing.”

“Could he have some more students?” Blake worried. “The parents we spoke with weren’t certain how many kids were in that group.”

“Hotch,” Morgan had his cell phone out. “He’s here but he isn’t alone. Do we know if there are any other boys missing?”

“Oh **SH@#$** !” Morgan and the others could hear John Hughes’ cursing. “You mean this guy might have some more kids in there with him?”

“There is that possibility,” Rossi spoke up. “And that means we’ll have to revise our plan of attack.”

“Okay, you guys stay put,” Hotch gave the instructions. “Don’t move unless you are forced to. Let me contact Garcia and see if she can find any new reports of missing children.”

“No problem,” Morgan assured him. “Just tell Baby Girl to make it fast!”


	34. Chapter 34

As the four agents watched, the door across the mall slowly opened and a young boy stepped out. He stopped for a moment, apparently puzzled, as he looked up and down the nearly empty corridor. 

“Mr. Gold, Sir,” he had turned and was addressing someone still in the shop. “It’s clear – There aren’t that many people out here.”

“Not many people?” they could hear the man’s voice. “That’s not right – The mall should be full, crowded!”

“Look for yourself,” the boy offered, stepping off to the side of the door.

“Step back out of sight – I repeat – Out of sight!” Morgan whispered into his microphone. “The subject may be coming out into the mall. Hang back!”

As the agents watched, Lester Gold carefully came out of his unit and looked around. 

“Well, everyone must be at the swap meet out in the parking lot,” he suggested to the boy. “Let’s get your brother to help us and we can get everything moved down the way into the heating and air conditioning equipment room.”

He turned and, followed by the boy, walked back into his unit.

“Rossi, that boy can’t be more than 10 years old!” JJ hissed. “And I would assume his brother is the same. We have to get them out of there!”

Blake was checking the screen on her cell phone. “Okay, the heating/air conditioning equipment room for the mall is that way.” She pointed to their left. “We must have come past it when we came in.”

“Hotch,” Morgan was on his cell. “He’s going to be heading for the heating/air conditioning equipment room shortly and he has two young boys with him. Has Garcia found anything - Do we know who they are?”

“Reid is checking with her now,” Hotch replied. 

“Maybe we should split up so we aren’t as conspicuous,” Blake suggested. “Our cover is going to be blown if he notices four people crammed into a doorway staring in his direction.”

“You’re right,” Morgan agreed. He handed his cell phone to JJ. “Stay on the line with Hotch,” he instructed her. “And let us know as soon as Reid gets his answer from Garcia.”

“Blake, you and I are going to take three of the SWAT team guys and move closer to the equipment room where we can keep an eye on him when he arrives,” Morgan continued. 

“Rossi, you and JJ take the other SWAT team member and go further down the mall to our right. That way you can cut them off if they decide to make a run for it. Or possibly you can grab one of the kids if they lag behind.”

“Good idea,” Rossi agreed. “If we are lucky, we may be able to grab at least one of the boys. Now, let’s move!”


	35. Chapter 35

As Morgan, Blake, and the three SWAT team members quickly moved to their new position, the door of Lester Gold’s unit opened and he emerged, followed by two young boys. Each of them was carrying a cardboard box.

“Okay, Jeff,” Gold told the taller of the two boys. “Why don’t you lead the way down the mall?”

“Okay, Mr. Gold,” the youngster chimed as he headed towards the equipment room.

“Reid”, JJ whispered into the cell phone. “Do we have names for these kids yet?”

“Just got them,” Reid replied. “Garcia thinks they are the sons of Gold’s landlady. She’s also his next door neighbor in the duplex he has been renting.”

“Their names, Reid, their names!” JJ reminded him.

“Jeff and Donny,” Reid told her. “Jeff is the older at 11 years old and Donny is 9.”

“Thanks!” JJ told him as she clicked off and turned towards Rossi.

“Jeff and Donny,” she told him. “Jeff is the older and I would assume the taller of the two.”

“Thanks,” Rossi replied as they began shadowing the three as they walked down the mall corridor.

As Rossi had anticipated, it wasn’t long before Donny began lagging significantly behind the other two. Moving quickly, Rossi caught up with him and, putting his hand over the boy’s mouth, pulled him off to the side, into a doorway.

“Donny,” he whispered. “My name is Agent Rossi and I am with the FBI. If you will promise not to scream, I will show you my badge and prove it. Do you promise?”

Scared, the young boy nodded his head. Slowly, Rossi took his hand away and then turned the boy around so he could see Rossi’s vest with the letters **FBI** clearly printed on the front.

“And now, my badge,” Rossi pulled his vest up so the boy could see it on his belt.

“Donny?” JJ scurried over. “I’m Agent Jareau and I am going to ask you to come with me.”

“What about Jeff?” the boy spoke for the first time. “And Mr. Gold. I can’t just leave them!”

“Don’t worry. Agent Rossi will take care of getting them to join us,” JJ assured the boy as she helped him place the box he was holding on the floor, and then led him past the SWAT team member and out of harm’s way.

“Okay, one down and one to go,” Rossi spoke into his microphone as he continued shadowing Gold and Jeff down the mall.

Suddenly the man stopped and looked behind him. “Donny?” he called out. “Donny, where are you?”

Jeff stopped and looked around too. “Donny?” he questioned. “Where is he? Where did he go?”

Rossi hesitated for a moment before stepping out to the middle of the corridor. “He is where he will be safe,” he informed the two as he leveled his gun at Lester Gold. “Lester Gold - FBI – You are under arrest. Put the box down and put your hands up!”

As Rossi spoke, the SWAT team member accompanying him also stepped into sight, slightly behind Rossi, and he also had his gun pointed directly at Lester Gold.


	36. Chapter 36

Jeff quickly dropped the box he was holding and put his hands in the air. “I didn’t do anything,” he sobbed, tears beginning to run down his face. “Where is my brother?”

“Donny is just fine, Jeff,” Rossi assured him. “Mr. Gold? Box down and hands up!”

The man carefully placed the box he had been holding on the floor and then straightened up to stare defiantly at the agent. Rossi immediately noticed that a small pistol had suddenly appeared in his hand.

“Morgan,” Rossi spoke into his microphone. “I need you and your SWAT team members to come back here, slowly and carefully. We need to talk Mr. Gold into surrendering.”

“On our way,” Morgan replied.

“Mr. Gold – I need your gun on the ground and your hands in the air,” Rossi told the man. 

“Oh no!” the man grabbed Jeff with one hand, pressing the boy to his chest while, with the other hand, holding his gun to the child’s head. “I’m not going anywhere with you and neither is Jeff.”

“That is not a good idea,” Rossi told him. “Just so you know, there is another FBI agent, with several more members of a SWAT team, headed this way.”

“I have the boy!” Lester Gold declared. “And, I am sure you don’t want anything to happen to him now, do you?”

The man maneuvered himself so his back was against the wall with Jeff still standing in front of him. 

“You are hiding behind a scared eleven year old boy,” Rossi pointed out. “How does that fit in with the ideal of fair play that you have always aspired to? Is that what the Marquise of Queensbury espoused?”

“Nobody plays fair – Nobody!” was the reply. “At least not with me! I could have been someone but Oh No – They didn’t want me! They kept kicking me to the curb! So, tell me, why should I be fair with anyone?”

“Life isn’t fair, Man,” Morgan was now within hearing range and had his weapon out. “Get used to it and get on with your life. Now, why don’t you put your gun down nice and slow so we can talk about the other four boys you were working with this morning.”

“OH NO!” was the defiant reply. “I have nothing to say to you either!”

“At least let the kid go,” Rossi suggested. “He’s not part of this.”

Jeff’s sobbing was barely audible but the agents could see his small body shaking in fear.

“He’s my security – My way out of here,” was the reply. “As long as I have him, I’m safe.” 

“Are you?” Rossi questioned. “What do you intend to do when you get out of here? Where can you go and what can you do?”

“Do you even have any plans for your future?” Morgan asked.

“I have plans,” was the declaration. “Big plans – I am going to make sure that everyone remembers me – Forever! They are going to regret turning me down!” The man adjusted his grip on his gun.

“Stop right there!” Rossi told him. “Slow down and before you do anything else, why don’t you tell us about the four boys you sent to the convention center this morning?”

“Those four idiots? Them and their parents!” the laugh was maniacal. “They’re gone!”

Rossi sensed that the SWAT team member behind him was quietly shifting his position.

“Have you got the shot?” he questioned out of the side of his mouth. 

“I’m working on it,” the man replied. “But the kid - ”

“They are gone?” Morgan questioned. “Where did they go?”

“Where you’ll never find them,” was the reply. “Although, maybe if you look hard enough and don’t mind getting your feet wet – “

“I have the shot,” the words came from behind Rossi.

“Wait,” Rossi cautioned. “We still need to get some answers from him. But, if he makes a move – “

“Talk fast!” the man warned.

“Where should we be looking?” Morgan spoke up. “Why don’t you – “

As Morgan spoke, Lester Gold swung around to look in his direction and, in the process, moved his gun to point at the agent.

“Down, Jeff, down!” Rossi yelled as the shot rang out.

“Hotch, get in here - he’s down,” Morgan spoke into his microphone. “Repeat – Lester Gold is down!”


	37. Chapter 37

As Morgan checked Lester Gold for a pulse, Blake quickly grabbed Jeff and moved him out of the way. 

“It’s okay,” she told the sobbing boy as she hugged him tightly. “It’s all over with and you’re alright. If you can walk with me, I’ll take you to your brother.”

Morgan looked up and shook his head. “Start with those boxes,” he instructed the SWAT team members behind him. “But, be careful. We need to make sure nothing in there is set to detonate.”

“And, as soon as Hotch, Cruz, and the others arrive, we can go down the corridor to the unit Gold was renting. And, we can stop along the way to check the box Donnie had,” Rossi spoke up. “We’ll need to check out the box, the unit, and his van. There has to be a clue somewhere as to whereabouts of those boys!”

“Are the uniforms still watching the van?” Blake worried as she stood up with her arm around Jeff’s shoulders. “Someone needs to tell them to be careful.”

“Let me handle that,” Reid had arrived along with Hotch, Cruz, and the rest of the SWAT team. 

“We heard most of your conversation via the microphones,” Hotch explained. “Okay, Reid – Get going. Maybe you can spot something in or on the van to help with your geographic profile. We need to find those boys!”

“If they are still available to be found,” Cruz added sadly.


	38. Chapter 38

With Morgan’s help, the SWAT team quickly determined that there was nothing in the cardboard boxes that presented a current danger. Everyone then moved down the corridor to the unit Lester Gold had been renting.

“Careful,” Hotch warned as they approached the door. “We have no idea of whether or not this place is booby trapped.”

“We don’t know if he was planning on coming back here,” Cruz added. “So, anything is possible.”

“There were only two timers in the boxes with the unarmed bombs,” Morgan pointed out. “That means there is still one unaccounted for.”

“What about the van?” Blake had left Jeff with JJ and Donny and had rejoined the group. “Does Reid know to check it for explosives?”

“The Bomb Squad is already out there,” Captain Hughes assured her. “They will have everything thoroughly checked out before allowing your agent access to the vehicle.”

“Blake, why don’t you go out and help Reid?” Hotch suggested. “In the meantime, we’ll wait here until someone is free to check out the unit.” 

“I’m on my way,” Blake replied as she turned and headed down the mall.

Cruz turned to the Captain Hughes. “Has the entire mall been cleared?” he asked.

“I just received confirmation from the uniforms,” Hughes replied. “Everyone is out and has been moved a safe distance from the building.”

“You guys waiting for us?” several members of the bomb squad appeared.

“They don’t need everyone working on the van,” one of them volunteered.

“So, here we are. What’s the situation and what are we looking for?” another asked.

“Okay,” Morgan began. “This is what we know.”


	39. Chapter 39

“So, we meet again, Dr. Reid,” the Bomb Squad leader greeted Reid as he led his team over to where Lester Gold’s van was parked.

“You know, in this job it’s unusual to meet the same person twice,” he continued. “Let alone twice in one day. What do you have for us this time?”

“This van,” Reid indicated the vehicle. “We know that the unsub had three timers and we’ve only accounted for two. The device he would have built using the missing timer would be a larger, mechanical unit that could be used to booby trap the van. I suspect it would most likely be attached to the ignition system.”

“Okay, let’s see what my guys can find,” the man volunteered. “And, by the way, I’m Bill Martin. Call me Bill. We may as well be on a first name basis seeing as how you are a repeat customer and all.”

“Okay, boys, you heard the man.” He gestured for his team to get started.

“Spencer,” Reid replied as the two men moved further away from the vehicle. “My first name is Spencer.”

“Well, Spencer, where is your lovely companion?” Bill asked as they watched the bomb squad begin examining the van.

“You mean my wife?” Reid questioned, surprised.

“No disrespect intended,” was the quick response. “But, you have to admit, she is a looker!”

“You brainy types seem to get all the good looking ladies,” he continued. “Care to tell me your secret?”

“Secret?” Reid echoed. He was desperately trying to remember one of Morgan’s quick-witted responses in a similar situation, and failing.

“Yeah – You know, for example, where did you meet her?” was the next question. “At one of those Sci-Fi things?”

Well, my father - sort of – knows her family,” Reid wasn’t sure he wanted Bill to know the whole story. His team knew, but that was different.

“Lucky you,” Bill told him. “I’ve been fixed up with several ‘daughters of family friends’ and let’s just say none of them have been any great successes. Your father must be some great guy to have friends like that!”

“Yeah – “ Reid replied thoughtfully. “I guess he is.”

Just then, one of the bomb squad members nodded and all three men began removing their helmets.

“Nothing here!” was the verdict. 

“Looks like you are safe to go,” Bill told Reid. 

“And, just in time,” Blake walked up to stand next to them. “Okay, Spencer, let’s see what we can find.”


	40. Chapter 40

Inside the mall, the bomb squad first sent everyone to the end of the corridor to wait. They then began examining the door of Lester Gold’s unit. 

“Just a basic installation store door,” was the verdict. “Hollow core and there doesn’t appear to be anything wired to it.”

After checking further, and still discovering nothing suspicious, they declared the door ready for opening.

“Okay, let’s give this a try,” one of the members said as she skillfully picked the door’s lock, and then turned the knob and gave it a gentle push.

As everyone watched in anticipation, the door swung silently open.

“So far so good. Now, let’s give this place a good once-over,” was the next suggestion as the bomb squad entered the room. 

It didn’t take long to locate the third bomb, lodged in the heat duct above Gold’s workbench. A quick snip of a single wire was all it took to disarm it.

“Apparently, he wasn’t planning on anyone finding this,” was the verdict. “Otherwise he would have made it more difficult to disarm.”

“Overly confident,” was Hotch’s assessment.

“My guess would be that he wasn’t planning on coming back,” Rossi observed looking around the tidy space.

As Hotch and his team began systematically searching the rooms, they immediately noticed that everything was organized with military precision. Tools were neatly stored in specified places in toolboxes, while a folding table with a group of matching folding chairs were neatly stacked against the back wall. Maps of the surrounding area were attached to one wall, along with a detailed schedule for that morning’s ‘attack’ on the conference center.

“Well, it looks like this is where he was holding his ‘classes’,” Cruz realized. “But there isn’t any evidence that the four boys were here today.”

“We’re not going to find anything more in here,” Hotch concluded. “He is much too careful to have left anything behind that could tip us off as to what he had planned for his end game. Let’s hope that Reid and Blake have found something in the van.”


	41. Chapter 41

“Yes, Hotch,” Blake answered her cell phone. “Yes, I think we have something. Reid is on the phone right now verifying several details with Garcia. Why don’t you and the team come out here? By the time you arrive he should have his answers.”

As the BAU team gathered next to Lester Gold’s van, Reid closed up his cell phone.

“I was right,” he said nonchalantly to Blake.

“Okay, why don’t you let the rest of us in on the secret?” Morgan spoke up.

“Here I am - Have you started yet?” JJ ran over.

“The boys?” Cruz questioned. 

“I stayed with them until Child Protective Services arrived,” JJ told him. “They are going to be returned to their mother. Obviously, there will be some questions asked, but I don’t foresee any problem. As far as anyone can tell, all she did was trust a friend and neighbor with her children for a few hours. There is no way she could have known what he had in mind.”

“Okay, back to the van, please,” Rossi requested.

“Well, as you can see,” Reid began his explanation. “The van itself is fairly clean, both inside and out. However, on the tires and in the wheel wells I found a very peculiar type of mud, which appears to be an organic rich clay, probably containing quartz and feldspar. I can’t do a chemical analysis right here, but it looks to me to be the type of material that is found in several areas of the Potomac Formation.”

“And, since we suspect that Mr. Gold’s last trip was between the convention center and this mall, Reid had Garcia check the area between those two locations to see what she could find,” Blake spoke up.

“It would have to be a fairly swampy area, because it hasn’t rained for several days,” Cruz observed, kneeling down to stare into the wheel well. 

“And, Garcia found?” Hotch was getting impatient.

“A county park along a small river that empties into the Potomac,” Reid reported. “There is a wetlands area within the park and there are several roads which run along its edge.”

“We are waiting for?” Morgan questioned as he took out the keys to one of the SUVs.

“Garcia to finish sending directions,” Blake explained, as she stared at the screen of her cell phone.

“*And, they are here!” JJ declared holding up her phone.


	42. Chapter 42

“Boy, that was quick. I just called the report in,” the park ranger greeted them as they pulled up to the park entrance and showed their IDs.

“What report?” Hotch was immediately on the alert.

“Wait? You said you are from the FBI?” the ranger back-tracked. “I thought I called the local sheriff. What are you doing here?”

“Why did you call the sheriff?” Hotch persisted.

“Because of what they found,” the ranger replied.

“Who found what?” Rossi was patiently trying to help things along.

“Why don’t we pull over to the side of the road up there, and you can walk over and tell us all about it,” JJ suggested helpfully, nodding towards a wide spot in the dirt road ahead of them.

“It was a couple of hikers following the river, who decided to take a detour along the edge of the wetlands,” the ranger was explaining a few minutes later. “They are still down there puking their guts out and, to tell you the truth, I puked mine out too. There appears to have been four of them.”

“I just can’t understand why someone would do something like that!” he spit out angrily. “It looks like they were just boys – just teenagers!”

“Oh No!” Blake exclaimed as she squeezed her eyes closed, dropped her head and shook it.

“Are you sure?” Rossi questioned.

“As sure as I could be without contaminating the crime scene,” the ranger replied. “If you want to take a look – “

“I think we had better make sure it is the boys we are looking for,” Hotch said reluctantly. “If anyone wants to stay here with one of the vehicles - ”

“I’ve gone this far,” Morgan explained. “I may as well see this through.”

“Me, too,” Reid and JJ exclaimed sadly.

“I owe it to their parents,” Cruz added.

“Okay, I’ll give you directions and get you on your way,” the ranger told them. “I have to stay here and wait for the sheriff.”


	43. Chapter 43

A 15 minute drive down the gravel park road brought the agents to a small, muddy parking area. As they got out of their vehicles, Rossi looked at the ground.

“It looks like at least one vehicle has been here today,” he observed. “And it parked over there.” He pointed. “I don’t think it will be necessary to try to match the tire tracks to Gold’s van.”

“Yeah – We can probably assume it was him,” Morgan agreed.

Looking across the lot, the agents saw a group of two men and a woman, all looking as if they were in a state of shock, sitting on a fallen tree.

“You the police?” one of the men asked.

“FBI,” Hotch replied flashing his badge.

“You’re probably used to seeing things like that,” the woman nodded her head towards the woods behind them. “But, we’re not. So can we just answer your questions and go home?”

“We had nothing to do with it. We were just hiking!” the second man protested. “Can we leave now?”

“I am sorry, but you are going to have to wait for the sheriff’s department to arrive,” JJ gently explained to them. “They are the ones who have jurisdiction over this area.”

“Oh – Please – I just want to go home!” the woman moaned.

“This way?” Rossi gestured towards a small trail.

“Yeah!” the first man nodded his agreement. “But, be prepared!”

A short walk down the indicated trail brought the agents to the edge of the wetlands. Looking into the swampy area, they could see the mangled remains of what that morning had been four teen-aged boys. 

“This is within a reasonable running distance from the convention center,” Reid observed, turning around so he didn’t have to look at the bodies. “They must have come straight here – “

“It looks like he used an AK-47,” Morgan remarked. “He would have caught them totally unawares.”

“They never had a chance,” Cruz stated sadly.

“We never looked into his having a weapon,” Blake commented. “Obviously – “

“Where is it now?” Hotch asked, looking around. “It wasn’t in the van and it wasn’t in his unit at the mall. Could he have just thrown it into the swamp?”

“That would have been an effective way to get rid of it,” Reid told him. “Its weight would have sunk it into the mire fairly quickly.” 

“Let’s let the local LEOs look for it,” Rossi suggested with a sigh.

As Hotch looked at the scene in front of him, he felt a familiar cramping in his stomach. Recognizing it for what it was, he rushed back down the trail towards a grouping of bushes he had noticed earlier. Bending over behind them, he unceremoniously emptied the contents of his stomach. As he straightened back up, he saw Rossi standing behind him with a bottle of water and a handful of tissues.

“Thanks,” he said as he accepted first the water and then the tissues. “It has been a while since I have - Just when I think I’m immune to it all – “

“I know,” Rossi said sadly. “Let’s just hope we never get that jaded.”

“Hotch, man, you okay?” Morgan walked over. “I saw you running over here.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. It just got to me for a change,” Hotch explained. 

“That’s understandable,” Morgan told him. “You look at those kids and you see Jack in a couple of years. You can’t help but worry about what the future holds for him.”

“What went wrong?” Hotch questioned angrily. “The parents did everything right, the school did everything right, and still – “

“There is more evil in this world than any of us realizes,” Rossi told him. “And, we have to deal with it every day.”

“Are we making a difference?” Hotch demanded. “Are we?”

“You have to believe that we are,” was the reply. “I do!”

“And, so do I !” Morgan adamantly affirmed.

“Now,” Rossi continued. “You pack it up and go home to Jack. Hug your son and tell him how much you love him.”

“What about these parents?” Hotch questioned. “Who is going to talk to them?”

“I’ll call Captain Thompson to meet me at the station. We’ll go together to talk with them,” Rossi volunteered. “I am sure the station has a chaplain who can join us and probably a grief counselor, too.”

“I’ll go with you,” Morgan offered. “And, I’m sure the school has someone on call for situations like this.”

“Cruz just sent JJ home,” he added. “This hit too close to home for her, too. She’s better off with Henry.”

“Garcia?” Hotch remembered the soft-hearted tech. “And Emma?”

“Garcia is making some calls,” Morgan replied. “She thinks she found Gold’s ex-wife and her kids. They deserve to know what happened and that they can stop worrying and come out of hiding. After that, Sam is going to take her home and stay with her. She won’t be alone. They will also make a stop along the way at Reid’s place to drop Emma off.”


	44. Chapter 44

It was late when Reid finally arrived home. As he walked through the door into his apartment, the first thing he noticed was that Emma had dimmed all the lights and was sitting on the couch with a book. From the looks of it, she hadn’t been reading.

“I am so sorry!” she said quietly as she stood up, walked over, and enveloped him in a hug. “But, you did manage to save those two little boys and you did stop him from setting off the bombs in the mall. That has to count for something!”

As she held him to her, she could feel Reid began to tremble as his defenses crumbled. Quietly, she led him over to the couch and sat down beside him with her arms still around him and his head leaning on her shoulder. Gently, she began rocking him.

Some time later, when the trembling and the tears had subsided, she stood up and held out her hand to him. As he stood up to join her, she quietly asked. “I don’t suppose you are hungry?”

Reid just shook his head, closed his eyes, and pulled her into another tight embrace.

Breaking it off after several minutes, Reid looked at the floor as he asked tentatively  “Sleep with me tonight? Not for – you know – but just to sleep?”

“I understand,” Emma assured him. “Sometimes, just having a warm body nearby helps.”

She picked up his go bag from where he had dropped it on the floor, and began slowly leading him across the living room and towards the bedroom.

“Okay,” she told him as they walked. “We are going to put your go bag in the bedroom, and then you are going to go into the bathroom and put on your pajamas. I put them under the heat vent in there so they will be warmed up for you. While you do that, I am going to turn down your bed and when you come back, I’ll tuck you in with a cup of hot cocoa.”

When they reached the bedroom door, Emma suddenly stopped, closed her eyes, and drew a deep breath. Looking across the room, Reid suddenly became aware of the picture of Maeve, occupying a prominent place on his nightstand.

“Oh – I’m sorry,” he turned to look at her. “I never thought – “

“It is rather – hard,” Emma replied. “If you don’t mind, I’ll put it in the drawer.”

Silently Reid nodded his acceptance.

“Now, you go into the bathroom and put your pajamas on,” Emma told him softly. “I’ll take care of everything in here.”

When Reid came back dressed in his pajamas, Maeve’s picture was gone and his bed was turned down.

“Come on,” Emma gently guided him to the bed and, after tucking the covers in around him as he sat there, handed him a cup of hot cocoa.

“I know you don’t like hot milk,” she told him as she perched on the edge of his bed. “So, hopefully this chocolate flavored hot milk will have the same soporific effect.”

“You do know that it has been disproved that hot milk assists in falling asleep,” Reid began authoritatively. “The initial assumption was that because milk contains tryptophan, the sleep-inducing amino acid, it would have a sedative effect. However, whether milk can induce sleep is debatable with studies suggesting that if it does the effect has little to do with tryptophan. This is due to the fact that to have any soporific effect, tryptophan has to cross the blood-brain barrier. And, in the presence of other amino acids — “ He paused to look over at Emma who was gently smiling at him.

“I always thought it had something to do with warm milk being a type of comfort food,” she told him. “Maybe I was right.”

“That’s probably the best explanation,” Reid agreed as he took another drink of the cocoa, paused and looked at her. “You asked me earlier if I wanted something to eat,” he remembered. “What did you have in mind?”

“I made a meatloaf with mashed potatoes,” was the reply. “And, there are several types of vegetables in the freezer. After everything you have been through today, I thought you might appreciate some comfort food.”

“Don’t worry,” she hastened to assure him. “I can package everything up into individual servings and put them in the freezer for you.”

Reid put the empty cup on his nightstand and looked over at Emma.

“Give me a minute to change my clothes and check on the nightlights; then I’ll be right back,” she assured him.

When she returned, Reid noticed that she was wearing what appeared to be an oversized man’s plaid shirt. Quietly, she snuggled in next to him and put her arms around him.

“Tell me,” she began. “Growing up in Las Vegas I assume you went to Conlin’s for ice cream a lot?”

“My father used to take me and my mother there,” Reid remembered. “Sometimes it was just to go there and sometimes as a celebration for an accomplishment of some sort.”

“And, what was your favorite flavor?” she asked.

As they softly talked, for the first time Reid fell asleep in his wife’s arms.


	45. Chapter 45

When Reid awoke, it was mid-morning and he was alone. The bathroom showed signs of Emma’s having been there, but her meager supply of toiletries was gone. And, when he walked into the living room, he immediately noticed that Emma’s pink suitcase was also missing. He then realized that there was a wicker basket sitting on the coffee table, along with a note. Picking it up, he read –

_“Good Morning Spencer! You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. I have an early morning flight, so I’m leaving these for you. Hope you like them!”_

Curious, Reid began examining the contents of the basket. They proved to be an assortment of shoelaces designed to fit his Converse sneakers. Some pairs were bright colors while others were decorated with a variety of patterns. Unconsciously, he counted - There were thirteen of the colorful and decorated pairs, and one plain white pair. With a sinking feeling, Reid opened up a second note, which was tied to the handle of the basket. This message was carefully written in studied calligraphy on a piece of Garcia’s hand-made pink stationary.

_“The traditional gift for a Thirteenth Wedding Anniversary is Lace,” he read. “However, since you aren’t a lace-type person, I decided to stretch things a bit and got you an assortment of shoe laces.” It was signed, ‘Your Wife, Emma’._

Reid suddenly felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. Fighting to catch his breath as he sunk down onto his couch, he pulled out his phone to check the screen. Oh Shit! As he suspected, after turning it off the previous afternoon when they were approaching the suspect’s location, he had neglected to turn it back on. There on the screen was the reminder Garcia had helped him set up several weeks ago reading ‘13th Anniversary’. Next there was a message from Garcia – “Did you remember anniversary?” There was also a short message from Rossi – “Anniversary!!” And, even JJ had sent him a message – “Thirteenth wedding anniversary!”

Frantically he pushed a well-used button on his phone.


	46. Chapter 46

“This had better be good!” Garcia sounded as though he had woken her up. “Or, Reid, I swear I will – “

“Garcia!” He interrupted her. “I need your help – I really messed up this time and I don’t know what to do about it!!”

“Reid, what’s wrong?” Garcia was instantly awake. 

“I shut off my phone and I forgot and now she’s gone!!” Reid blurted out. “I need to – I don’t know what.”

“I assume you mean Emma’s left?” Garcia clarified. “And, you forgot about your anniversary, right? Do you know when she left?” It sounded like Garcia was out of bed and moving about the room.

“I don’t know,” Reid burbled. “But, I think she’s gone back to Vegas and I need to find her!”

“Okay,” he could hear Garcia keyboarding. “Do you know what flight she was on?”

“I have no idea,” Reid admitted. “She just told me she was coming into town for The Con and I never questioned what arrangements she had made.”

“Alright,” Garcia was still keyboarding. “From D.C to Vegas, leaving early this morning. Okay, I think I have her. Oh Boy – You’re right, she’s already left and while she got a really good price on her ticket, she is definitely taking the long way around to get there. Two plane changes, one in Chicago and a second in San Francisco.”

“What am I going to do?” Reid wailed. “I need to make this right!”

He could hear Garcia still keyboarding. “How much are you willing to spend?” was her next question. 

“Anything!” was the response.

“Okay, here’s what you are going to do.”


	47. Chapter 47

Pulling her small pink suitcase behind her, Emma slowly walked down the sixth jet way that day. Two connecting flights, plus time spent waiting in airports, had consumed her entire day, and she was tired. 

“Not much longer now,” she thought to herself as she trudged out into the air conditioning of the Las Vegas airport terminal.

As she walked down the terminal corridor, she thought about the events of the weekend. She had gone to Quantico looking for an answer and she still wasn’t sure she had it. The annulment papers were still in her backpack and she didn’t know what to do with them. She also didn’t know what to tell her father-in-law. Will hadn’t demurred when she asked him to draw up the papers, but she could tell he was disappointed. 

Emma really liked Will and would like to continue being friends with him, even if she and Spencer did get their marriage annulled. Realistically, however, she knew that wasn’t a likely possibility. She had seen all too often what happened when a couple split up. The material goods weren’t the only things that got divided up. At least she would have an opportunity to discuss the situation with Will tonight, as he was scheduled to pick her up from the airport. Also, she smiled to herself, hopefully he would take her out to dinner.

“And,” she sighed as she continued with her thoughts further. “If Spencer and I do go our separate ways, I will probably lose my friends at the BAU. As Spencer’s co-workers, they will undoubtedly feel compelled to stick close to him.”

Descending on the escalator leading down to the baggage claim area, Emma looked around trying to spot her maybe soon-to-be former father-in-law. Strange, he was usually waiting for her near the bottom of the stairs. What – Who was that over there with all those flowers? She blinked and looked again as she stepped off the moving steps.

“Spencer?” she blurted out. “What are you doing here?” And, she promptly burst into tears.

“Emma?” Reid wasn’t sure what to do as he shifted the bouquet of flowers from one hand to another. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

He put his hand on her arm and gently drew her out of the path of oncoming pedestrians. “Emma?”

“How did you get here? I wasn’t expecting you! Where’s your father?” the questions quickly followed one another.

“I really messed up,” Reid confessed. “And, when I realized it, I talked to Garcia, and then I talked with my father, and then Rossi, and here I am. I hope it’s okay?” Everything came out in a rush.

“Oh, these are for you,” he appeared to remember he was carrying the oversized bouquet of flowers. 

“For me?” Emma questioned as she accepted the flowers.

“I talked to JJ, too,” Reid confessed. “And, she said that flowers were a good place to start when you are apologizing.” 

“There are 13 red roses,” he hurried on with his explanation. “One for each year we were – kind of – married, and one white one. That stands for Hope – The fact that I hope you will give me a chance for another year.”

“Well, there is always Hope,” Emma conceded as she buried her nose in the flowers.

“And,” Reid grinned self-consciously. “I’m wearing your gift.” He pulled up his pant legs slightly so she could see his shoes. “Thank you!”

“I though you would like them,” Emma told him with a sniffle.

“Come on,” Reid was gaining confidence. “I have my father’s car in the parking garage.” He took the handle of her suitcase from her and looked at her expectantly. Emma smiled, nodded her acceptance, and began walking out of the terminal with him.

“Where are we going now?” Emma asked once they were both settled in Will Reid’s modest sedan.

“To my father’s house,” Reid told her. “He offered to fix dinner and leave it on the stove for us. He said you are always hungry when you get off a flight. He is planning on spending the night at a friend’s house so we can have his house to ourselves for the evening.”

“No – He doesn’t have to leave,” Emma quickly protested. “Have him stay.”

“Don’t we need time alone to ‘talk’?” Reid questioned hesitantly.

“Not tonight, Spencer,” Emma told him. “I am tired and worn out and cranky and this is not the best time for a discussion like that. I’ll probably say some things that I’ll regret later. Please, let’s enjoy a family dinner with your father tonight and then tomorrow morning we can try to sort things out. Okay?”

“If that’s what you want,” Reid pulled out his cell phone and pushed several numbers. “Dad? Can you join us for dinner?”


	48. Chapter 48

As Reid drove the car into his dad’s garage, the door leading into the house opened and Will Reid stepped out.

“I heard you pull in,” he explained.

“How are you doing, Sweetie?” he questioned Emma as he enveloped her in a hug.

“Tired –wore out – hungry,” she told him with a weary smile. 

“Well, let’s get you inside and get you fed,” Will smiled at her. “Then you can spend the night in my guest room. Unless – “ he looked hopefully at Reid.

“No,” Reid shook his head. “The guest room will be just fine for Emma.” He reached into the back seat of the car and pulled out Emma’s suitcase. “I’ll put this in there now.”

“And, I’ll find a vase for these flowers,” Emma told him, holding up her bouquet of roses. “Is the one from my birthday flowers still around?”

“It’s in the kitchen cupboard,” Will told her. “Let me get it for you.”

“Birthday?” Reid questioned weakly. “Don’t tell me I missed that, too?”

“We can talk about it later,” Emma told him.

Later that evening, after they had finished dinner, the three of them continued sitting around the kitchen table talking. 

“This was great – Thanks!” Emma told Will. 

“Well, I remembered that you liked my beef stroganoff the last time I made it,” he replied, giving her a fond smile. 

“I hope you enjoyed it, too, Spencer,” he added, looking over at his son.

“Yes – It was great,” Reid told him. “I remember you cooking when I was a kid, but I don’t seem to remember you making this particular dish.”

“It’s one of the skills I picked up – after - ,” Will hedged his explanation. 

“Oh – I just remembered – I have something for you,” Emma interrupted. She stood up and headed into the guest room. 

A minute later, she was back with an envelope she handed to Will. “I thought you might like this,” she told him.

Will carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of Emma in her Amy Pond outfit. 

“I remembered you saying that the only picture you have of me is the one the university and the professional journals use in their publications,” she told him. “Penelope took this and then printed it out for you.”

“Thank You!” Mr. Reid exclaimed happily. “This will go on my desk at work.”

“You know, I don’t have a recent picture of you, either” Will told Reid shyly. “Or, one of you and Emma together.”

They both looked at Emma. “Well, if Spencer can make it, maybe we can take some pictures the next time you have a cook-out,” she told Will. 

“You have cook-outs?” Reid asked, surprised.

“Well, rarely, but yes,” Will replied. “The last time – “

“We invited Bear and Tiny and Double D and their ‘Old Ladies’,” Emma laughed at the memory. “The neighbors nearly fell off their front porches staring when the bikes roared down the street and pulled into the drive.”

“They were just getting used to my having a daughter-in-law when the bikers showed up,” Will added. “After all these years, they are probably starting to wonder about me!”

“They probably suspect that you are having a mid-life crises,” Emma suggested as she smiled at him and then yawned. 

“Well, gentlemen, as much as I hate to leave you, I think I am going to crash,” she announced as she stood up. “See you both in the morning?”

“You can count on it!” Will assured her with a smile. “And, I’ll have breakfast waiting for you when you get up.”

Emma walked over to place a quick kiss on his cheek. “Thanks,” she said. And then, she was gone.

“You know, Spencer, you are one lucky man,” Will told his son as they sat looking after Emma. “Emma is someone special.” 

“However,” he added. “You need to be careful you don’t try her patience. I’m getting the impression that she is ready to move on with her life.”

Reid reached over and lightly touched the photo lying on the table. “You know, I don’t have any pictures of Emma,” he told his father. “And, I have a picture of Maeve on my nightstand. Until last night, I didn’t know how much it upset her.”

“Emma isn’t one to complain,” his father observed. “However, like everyone else, she has her limits.”

“How did you know that Emma is always hungry when she gets off a flight?” Reid asked unexpectedly. “What flights have you picked her up from?”

“Most recently?” Will questioned. “About two weeks ago I picked her up when she came back from Carson City after taking her state boards.”

“State boards,” Reid echoed weakly. “For ?”

“To practice Psychiatry in the State of Nevada,” Will told him. “She is still studying for her licensing test for pharmacology.”

“I missed that, too,” Reid moaned. 

“I think she was planning on waiting until after she received her final scores to tell you,” Will consoled his son. 

“Spencer, I’m lucky because I got a second chance with you,” Will continued seriously. “I know you are still mourning Maeve, but you really need to think about what you want for your future or you may not be so lucky. Emma is a great girl, and there are a lot of eligible men out there that she could have her pick of. You need to make a decision.”

“I don’t know how to do whatever it is I am supposed to do,” Reid confessed helplessly. “I’ve never been good with women.”

“Well, from what I remember,” his father smiled. “All you really need to know is that you need to make sure she knows that you think she is something special - Make her feel wanted and loved.”

“And how do I do that?” Reid looked at his father.

“Just little things,” Will told his son. “Call her unexpectedly - Bring her small gifts when you come home – Send remembrances – Let her know you are thinking about her.”

“Rossi often brings something back for Garcia,” Reid remembered. “And, he also either calls or texts her every night before he goes to sleep. Maybe he can help me.”

“That’s a start!”


	49. Chapter 49

Reid spent the night in the comfortable bedroom that his father had set up for him many years before.

“I always hoped I might be able to convince you to spend an occasional weekend with me,” Will had confessed. “But, it turns out that I am a coward and I was afraid to face up to what I had done to you and your mother. You’re welcome to use the room anytime you want.”

It was in the early hours of the next morning when the call came. “Sorry, we have a case” was all the text said. After speaking with an apologetic Hotch, Reid quickly got dressed and went down the hall to the guest room. After knocking on the door, he slowly opened it and stood for a moment watching Emma as she slept. Shaking his head regretfully, he entered the room and walked over to the bed.

“Hey, there”, he gently shook Emma.

“Hey?” Emma opened her eyes looked up at him. She sighed. “You have a case.” She guessed. “Where is it this time?”

“Fort Madison, Iowa,” Reid replied softly as he perched on the edge of the bed. “I am so sorry!”

“Fort?” Emma questioned as she struggled to sit up. “That conjures up visions of a wooden stockade with guard houses. I suppose you don’t know if that is how the city got its start.”

“Actually, it was one of the original forts built on the upper Mississippi River,” Reid told her. “And, it was ----- “ He stopped and looked at her. “That’s not important now, is it? I’m taking a commercial flight and it leaves in about 90 minutes. Are you upset?”

“When I accepted you, I accepted your job,” Emma told him. “It’s a package deal.”

Reid looked at her closer. “What is that you are wearing?” he asked, noticing the way the sleeves were rolled up on the blue plaid shirt she had on. “You had that on last night, too.”

“Oh, this?” Emma seemed to realize that she was dressed. “You remember my cousin Phil?”

“The one who broke into your apartment a couple of months ago?” Reid asked. “At the time, he didn’t realize we were there.”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Emma agreed. “His mother was cleaning out a bunch of things he left behind when he moved out, and there were several shirts he had left behind. When I saw them I took them because I figured I could use them to sleep in.”

“You call him your cousin,” Reid observed. “How are the two of you related?”

“I’m not really sure,” Emma confessed. “But, I know we are related somewhere out on a limb of the family tree. I call him my second cousin, four times removed. He claims we are fifth cousins who never bothered to be removed.”

“So, my wife is sleeping in another man’s shirt?” Reid seemed stunned by the realization.

“Your wife is making sure she is decently covered while she is a guest in your father’s home,” Emma pointed out. “Besides, Spencer, he’s my COUSIN.”

“But, that shirt, it’s his!” Reid insisted.

His cell phone buzzed and he took a quick look at the screen.

“My taxi is here,” he looked over at Emma. “I’ll call you when I land?”

“Okay,” Emma took a deep breath. “Stay safe?”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk,” Reid stood up to leave and then, unexpectedly, leaned over and kissed her on the mouth before walking out the door. He was half way to the airport when he realized that he had the taste of strawberries and vanilla on his lips, and smiled.

Two days later Emma received a padded envelope in the mail. When she opened it, she found a plaid man’s shirt inside. Holding it to her face, she inhaled and smiled.

 

FINI

**Author's Note:**

> WOW - I got to the end of this story faster than I expected. I still can't believe I managed to tie up all the loose ends. If anyone spots an unresolved issue, please let me know. And, thank you all for reading. Please take a minute and let me know if I should pursue the Reid/Emma storyline.
> 
> To everyone who has taken the time to send me Kudos, not only for this story but also for others I have written, an extra big THANK YOU. Every time I receive one, it makes my day a little brighter. And, Kudos to you back.


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